Analysis of erosion drivers in the Hydrological Open Air Laboratory Petzenkirchen

<p>Soil erosion and sediment loading are mainly caused by extreme events with rare occurrence. Thus, long term observation is necessary for identification of causes and factors that trigger the erosion process and lead to the generation of river sediment.</p> <p>To investigate the main drivers of erosion in the catchment of the Hydrological Open Air Laboratory (HOAL) Petzenkirchen, we performed time series analyses for the period of 2002-2022, including agricultural land use, precipitation, discharge and sediment load with high temporal and spatial resolution. The HOAL Petzenkirchen, located in the alpine forelands of Lower Austria, extends to 66 ha and is mainly used for intensive agriculture.</p> <p>To highlight the effect of heavy precipitation events, a 100-year flood event that occurred in 2021 is analysed in detail to demonstrate the immense impact of such events on the sediment loading.</p>