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Rills caused by run-off concentration on erodible hillslopes have very irregular profiles and cross-section shapes. Rill erosion directly depends on the hydraulics of flow in the rills, which may differ greatly from hydraulics of flow in larger and regular channels. In this paper, a recently theoretically deduced rill flow resistance equation, based on a power–velocity profile, was tested experimentally on plots of varying slopes (ranging from 9% to 26%) in which mobile and fixed bed rills were incised. Initially, measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross-section area, wetted perimeter, and bed slope, carried out in 320 reaches of mobile bed rills and in 165 reaches of fixed rills, were used for calibrating the theoretical flow resistance equation. Then the relationship between the velocity profile parameter Γ, the channel slope, and the flow Froude number was separately calibrated for the mobile bed rills and for the fixed ones. The measurements carried out in both conditions (fixed and mobile bed rills) confirmed that the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor can be accurately estimated using the proposed theoretical approach. For mobile bed rills, the data were supportive of the slope independence hypothesis of velocity, due to the feedback mechanism, stated by Govers. The feedback mechanism was able to produce quasicritical flow conditions. For fixed bed rills, obtained by fixing the rill channel, by a glue, at the end of the experimental run with a mobile bed rill, the slope independence of the flow velocity measurements was also detected. Therefore, an experimental run carried out by a rill bed fixed after modelling flow action is useful to detect the feedback mechanism. Finally, the analysis showed that, for the investigated conditions, the effect of sediment transport on the flow resistance law can be considered negligible respect to the grain roughness effect.

In this paper the results of a plot experiment on rill erosion are reported. The rill network, manually incised on the soil and further shaped by a clear inflow discharge, was surveyed using the three-dimensional photo-reconstruction (3D-PR) technique which allows to obtain a digital terrain model (DTM) by a large series of oblique images of the channel from consumer un-calibrated and non-metric cameras. The three-dimensional (3D) DTM and the quasi-tridimensional (2.5D) model were generated by Agisoft Photoscan software. For a single rill channel, the reliability of the 3D image-based ground measurements of morphological and hydraulic variables was positively tested by the corresponding measurements carried out on the rill gypsum cast. Moreover, the morphological and hydraulic variables were measured at 11 transects of the plot by a profilometer P, the 2.5D and 3D models. Using the 3D model as reference, the analysis showed that the reliability of the measurements by P and 2.5D methods was comparable and the error was generally lower than 15%. The rill measurements carried out by the three methods agreed with the available literature measurements and supported the applicability of both the empirical relationship between rill length and its eroded volume and the theoretical dimensionless relationship among the morphological variables describing the channelized erosion process. The analysis also showed that the effect of the distance between two consecutive cross sections on the rill volume measurement by 3D model is negligible. Finally, the shaping effect of different flow discharges on three straight rills incised into the plot was tested. In particular, three increasing flow discharges (0.15, 0.35 and 0.5 l s − 1 ) were used sequentially in two rills while the maximum discharge of the sequence (0.5 l s − 1 ) was used into the third rill. Both the grain-size distribution of the eroded sediment and the total amount of soil loss were affected by the discharge sequence.

In this paper, a new flow resistance equation for rill flow was deduced applying dimensional analysis and self‐similarity theory. At first, the incomplete self‐similarity hypothesis was used for establishing the flow velocity distribution whose integration gives the theoretical expression of the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor. Then the deduced theoretical resistance equation was tested by some measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross section area, wetted perimeter, and bed slope carried out in 106 reaches of some rills shaped on an experimental plot. A relationship between the velocity profile, the channel slope, and the flow Froude number was also established. The analysis showed that the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor can be accurately estimated by the proposed theoretical approach based on a power–velocity profile.

Overland flow, sediments, and nutrients transported in runoff are important processes involved in soil erosion and water pollution. Modelling transport of sediments and chemicals requires accurate estimates of hydraulic resistance, which is one of the key variables characterizing runoff water depth and velocity. In this paper, a new theoretical power–velocity profile, originally deduced neglecting the impact effect of rainfall, was initially modified for taking into account the effect of rainfall intensity. Then a theoretical flow resistance law was obtained by integration of the new flow velocity distribution. This flow resistance law was tested using field measurements by Nearing for the condition of overland flow under simulated rainfall. Measurements of the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor, corresponding to flow Reynolds number ranging from 48 to 194, were obtained for simulated rainfall with two different rainfall intensity values (59 and 178 mm hr⁻¹). The database, including measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross‐sectional area, wetted perimeter, and bed slope, allowed for calibration of the relationship between the velocity profile parameter Γ, the slope steepness s, and the flow Froude number F, taking also into account the influence of rainfall intensity i. Results yielded the following conclusions: (a) The proposed theoretical flow resistance equation accurately estimated the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor for overland flow under simulated rainfall, (b) the flow resistance increased with rainfall intensity for laminar overland flow, and (c) the mean flow velocity was quasi‐independent of the slope gradient.

In this paper a recently theoretically deduced flow resistance equation, based on a power-velocity profile, was tested using laboratory measurements by Yoon and Wenzel for an overland flow on a smooth bed under rainfall. These measurements of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor, corresponding to a wide range of the flow Reynolds number (191–5700), were carried out for an overland flow under a simulated rainfall characterized by different intensity values ranging from 13 to 381 mm h−1. At first, the available measured values of flow velocity, water depth, cross sectional area, wetted perimeter and bed slope were used to calibrate the relationship between the velocity profile parameter Γ, the slope steepness s and the flow Froude number F. Then the theoretical approach and the measurements in the investigated conditions allowed to state that the coefficients of the relationship (Eq. (8)) between Γ, s and F vary with rainfall intensity. Furthermore, the theoretical flow resistance equation (Eq. (9)) allowed an accurate estimate of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor, which is characterized by errors less than or equal to ±10% for 91.3% of cases and less than or equal to ±5% for 84.8% of cases. Finally, the developed analysis stated that the effect of rainfall intensity on flow resistance is always negligible for turbulent conditions while for Re < 2000 the effect of rainfall impact becomes negligible for rainfall intensities greater than a critical value occurring in the range 31.75–95.25 mm h−1.

In this paper a recently theoretically deduced flow resistance equation, based on a power-velocity profile, was tested using data collected for overland flow under simulated rainfall carried out in plots with vegetation. The available data were obtained exploring a wide range of rainfall intensities (from 60 to 181 mm h−1) and slopes (from 3.6 to 39.6%), and with four different types of vegetation. The database, including measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross sectional flow area, wetted perimeter and bed slope, was divided in four datasets (one for each vegetation type), which allowed the calibration of the relationship between the velocity profile parameter Γ, the slope steepness, the flow Froude number, and the rainfall Reynolds number. The effect of rainfall intensity and different types of vegetation on flow resistance was investigated. The results showed that the theoretically deduced flow resistance equation allowed an accurate estimate of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor for overland flow under simulated rainfall and in presence of vegetation. The developed analysis also suggested that flow resistance increases with rainfall intensity for laminar overland flow. The available data demonstrated that a quasi-independence between slope and mean velocity occurred. Finally, a single flow resistance equation resulted applicable to all investigated vegetation types and this equation was affected by flow regime represented by flow Reynolds number.

Improving Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE)‐based models has large interest because simple and reliable analytical tools are necessary in the perspective of a sustainable land management. At first, in this paper, a general definition of the event rainfall‐ runoff erosivity factor for the USLE‐based models, REFₑ = (QR)ᵇ¹(EI₃₀)ᵇ², in which QR is the event runoff coefficient, EI₃₀ is the single‐storm erosion index, and b₁ and b₂ are coefficients, was introduced. The rainfall‐runoff erosivity factors of the USLE (b₁ = 0 and b₂ = 1), USLE‐M (b₁ = b₂ = 1), USLE‐MB (b₁ ≠ 1 and b₂ = 1), USLE‐MR (b₁ = 1 and b₂ ≠ 1), USLE‐MM (b₁ = b₂ ≠ 1), and USLE‐M2 (b₁ ≠ b₂ ≠ 1) can be defined using REFₑ. Then the different expressions of REFₑ were simultaneously tested against a data set of normalized bare plot soil losses, AₑN, collected at the Sparacia (south Italy) site. As expected, the poorest AₑN predictions were obtained with the USLE. The observed tendency of this model to overestimate small AₑN values and underestimate high AₑN values was reduced by introducing in the soil loss prediction model both QR and an exponent for the erosivity term. The fitting to the data was poor with the USLE‐MR as compared with the USLE‐MB and the USLE‐MM. Estimating two distinct exponents (USLE‐M2) instead of a single exponent (USLE‐MB, USLE‐MR, and USLE‐MM) did not appreciably improve soil loss prediction. The USLE‐MB and the USLE‐MM were recognized to be the best performing models among the possible alternatives, and they performed similarly with reference to both the complete data set and different sub‐data sets, only including small, intermediate, and severe erosion events. In conclusion, including the runoff coefficient in the soil loss prediction model is important to improve the quality of the predictions, but a great importance has to be paid to the mathematical structure of the model.

This paper focuses on the dissipative similarity of step-pool units at rill, flume and stream scale. This investigation is carried out using recent advances in open channel flow resistance, applications of close-range photogrammetry to rill erosion, available published data on step-pool features in flumes and streams and a new dataset of measurements in fixed bed step-pool rills. A theoretically-based equation for calculating the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor obtained by integration of a power velocity profile is presented. The scale factor Γ of this power velocity profile, which is included in the flow resistance equation, was previously calibrated (Eq. 10) for mobile bed rills with step-pool units. At first, in this investigation an additional test of this flow resistance equation is developed using measurements carried out in fixed bed rills with step-pool features. In particular, the proposed Γ function is tested using the measurements carried out in 63 fixed bed rill reaches incised on a 24 and 26% sloped plot. This test shows that the effect of sediment transport on the flow resistance law can be considered negligible as compared to the effect of the form-induced dissipative mechanisms due to the presence of step-pools structures. Then, using measurements carried out in 61 flume experimental runs and 109 reaches of step-pool streams, this investigation demonstrates that the Γ function for flume and stream conditions can be obtained scaling that (Eq. 10) determined for step-pool rills. The Darcy-Weisbach friction factor values measured in flumes and streams are, on average, higher than those related to rills. Finally, the application of the theoretical equation for calculating the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor for flume and stream conditions requires Γ, estimated by Eq. (10), to be multiplied by a specific scale factor.

Flow velocity controls hillslope soil erosion and is a key hydrodynamic variable involved in sediment transport and deposition processes. The dye-tracer technique is one of the most applied methods for measuring velocity of shallow interrill and rill flow. The technique is based on the injection of a tracer in a specific point and the measurement of its speed to travel the known distance from the injection point to a given channel section. The dye-tracer technique requires that the measured surface flow velocity has to be corrected to obtain the mean flow velocity using a correction factor which is generally empirically deduced. The technique has two sources of uncertainties: i) the method applied for measuring the travel time of the dye-tracer and ii) the estimate of the correction factor, which is the ratio between the mean flow velocity and the surface velocity, in different flow conditions. In this paper the results of a wide experimental investigation, carried out using a fixed bed small flume simulating a rill channel, are presented. At first, the comparison between a chronometer-based (CB) and video-based (VB) technique was carried out for establishing the influence of the travel time measuring technique. For each experimental run, which was characterized by a sample of 20 measurements carried out with the same values of slope and discharge, the developed analysis showed that the empirical frequency distribution of the ratio between the single measurement and the sample mean (i.e., the average of 20 measurements) is more uniform for the VB technique than for the CB one. In any case, this sample mean was representative of surface flow velocity for both the CB and the VB technique. Furthermore, the mean value obtained by the CB measurements lightly underestimated (−1.7%) the corresponding mean obtained by the VB technique. Finally, the effects of slope (0.1–8.7%), flow Reynolds number (3462–10040), Froude number (1.44–5.17) on the correction factor are presented. The analysis demonstrated that the correction factor is independent of flow Reynolds number while a relationship with a Froude number, obtained by surface velocity measurement, or channel slope can be established.

Soil erosion is a key process to understand the land degradation, and modelling of soil erosion will help to understand the process and to foresee its impacts. The applicability of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) at event scale is affected by the fact that USLE rainfall erosivity factor does not take into account runoff explicitly. USLE-M and USLE-MM, including the effect of runoff in the event rainfall– runoff erosivity factor, are characterized by a better capacity to predict event soil loss. The specific objectives of this paper were (i) to determine the suitable parameterization of USLE, USLE-M and USLE-MM by using the dataseries of Sparacia experimental site and (ii) to evaluate their performances at both event and annual scale. The measurements allowed to establish the relationships for calculating the factors of USLE, USLE-M and USLE-MM usable at the Sparacia experimental area. At first, for slope-length values greater than 33 m, the calibration of USLE model at event scale pointed out that sediment delivery processes, that is processes involving deposition of the transported eroded soil particles, occur. The analysis showed that USLE and USLE-M tend to overestimate low event soil losses, while for USLE-MM, this tendency is less pronounced. However, the USLE-MM performed better than USLE and USLE-M and was able to reproduce better than other two models the highest soil loss values that are the most interesting from a practical point of view. The results obtained at annual scale were generally consistent with those obtained at event scale.

The uniform flow resistance equation, in the form due to Manning or Darcy-Weisbach, is widely applied to establish the stage-discharge relationship of a river cross-section. The application of this equation, namely the slope-area method, allows to indirectly measure the corresponding river discharge by measurements of bed slope, water level, cross-section area, wetted perimeter and an estimate of channel roughness. In this paper, a recently deduced flow resistance equation for open channel flow was tested during conditions of suspended sediment-laden flow. First, the flow resistance equation was determined by dimensional analysis and by applying the condition of incomplete self-similarity for the flow velocity profile. Then the analysis was developed by the following steps: (i) for sediment-laden flows characterized by known values of mean diameter and concentration of suspended sediments, a relationship (Eq. (28)) between the Γ function of the velocity profile, the channel slope and the Froude number was calibrated by the available measurements; and (ii) a relationship for estimating the Γ function (Eq. (29)) which also takes into account the mean concentration of suspended particles was also established. The theoretical flow resistance law (Eq. (26)) coupled with the relationship for estimating the Γ function (Eq. (28) or Eq. (29)), which is characterized by the applicability of a wide range of flow conditions, allowed to estimate the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor for flows with suspended-load. The analysis showed that for large-size mixtures the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor can be accurately estimated neglecting the effect of mean concentration of suspended sediments while for small-size mixtures the friction factor decreases when the mean sediment concentration increases.

Este artículo contiene 16 páginas, 6 figuras, 2 tablas., Soil degradation by water is a serious environmental problem worldwide, with specific climatic factors being the major causes. We investigated the relationships between synoptic atmospheric patterns (i.e. weather types, WTs) and runoff, erosion and sediment yield throughout the Mediterranean basin by analyzing a large database of natural rainfall events at 68 research sites in 9 countries. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify spatial relationships of the different WTs including three hydro-sedimentary variables: rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield (SY, used to refer to both soil erosion measured at plot scale and sediment yield registered at catchment scale). The results indicated 4 spatial classes of rainfall and runoff: (a) northern sites dependent on North (N) and North West (NW) flows; (b) eastern sites dependent on E and NE flows; (c) southern sites dependent on S and SE flows; and, finally, (d) western sites dependent on W and SW flows. Conversely, three spatial classes are identified for SY characterized by: (a) N and NE flows in northern sites (b) E flows in eastern sites, and (c) Wand SW flows in western sites. Most of the rainfall, runoff and SY occurred during a small number of daily events, and just a few WTs accounted for large percentages of the total. Our results confirm that characterization by WT improves understanding of the general conditions under which runoff and SY occur, and provides useful information for understanding the spatial variability of runoff, and SY throughout the Mediterranean basin. The approach used here could be useful to aid of the design of regional water management and soil conservation measures., This research was supported by projects funded by the MINECOFEDER: CGL2014-52135-C3-3-R, CGL2014-59946-R, CGL2015-65569- R, CGL2015-64284-C2-2-R, and PCIN-2017-061/AEI. When this manuscript was first submitted Estela Nadal-Romero and Damià Vericat received a “Ramón y Cajal” postdoctoral contract (RYC-2013-14371 and RYC‐2010‐06264, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MEC). Damià Vericat is now a Serra Húnter Fellow at the University of Lleida. María Fernández-Raga received a “José Castillejo” postdoctoral grant (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports). Carla Ferreira was supported by a post-doctoral research grant from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (SFRH/ BPD/120093/2016). Mariano Moreno-de las Heras received a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral contract (IJCI-2015-26463) from the MEC. José Andrés López-Tarazón received a Vicenç Mut postdoctoral fellowship from the Autonomous Balearic Government (CAIB PD/038/2016). José Andrés López-Tarazón and Ramon Batalla also acknowledge the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Department of the Economy and Knowledge of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia for supporting the Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 645 (RIUSFluvial Dynamics Research Group), and the CERCA Programme. This paper has benefited from the Lab and Field Data Pool created within the framework of the COST action CONNECTEUR (ES1306).

In this paper, the dimensionless stage-discharge relation for a sharp-crested triangular labyrinth weir, determined in a previous study, is initially tested by some experimental runs carried out in a laboratory flume. According to this relationship, the flow magnification is affected by the length-magnification ratio and the head to one cycle width ratio. The measurements allowed to test the applicability of this dimensionless relation for different values of both the angle of the sidewall to the main flow direction and the weir height. Finally, the proposed dimensionless equation was also tested by using experimental measurements carried out for broad-crested triangular labyrinth weir.

Water flow on hillslope soil surface supplies energy which is required to detach soil particles, to transport and deposit sediments, therefore flow velocity is a key variable related to hillslope hydrodinamics of soil erosion processes. Among the different methods available for measuring velocity of shallow interrill and rill flow, the trace technique is widely used. Trace technique is applied by adding a material (salt, magnetic material, water isotope, floating object) and then measuring the speed of the material to travel a known distance from the injection point. When flow velocity is measured using a dye-tracing method, the mean velocity is calculated by multiplying the measured surface velocity of the leading edge of the tracer plume by a correction factor which was generally empirically deduced. The main uncertainty of the dye-tracing technique stands in the estimate of this correction factor, which is the ratio between the mean flow velocity and the surface velocity. The main goal of this paper is establishing a theoretical relationship for calculating the correction factor by using a power velocity profile. At first, the developed analysis demonstrated that the correction factor only depends on the exponent of the power velocity distribution (Eq. (5) ). Then, this theoretical expression of the correction factor was applied using the velocity profiles measured by Baiamonte and Ferro for the condition of sediment-free flow in motion on a rough bed and by Coleman for a sediment-laden flow moving on a smooth flume. Using the correction factor values calculated by the velocity measurements carried out for the sediment-free flow in motion on a rough bed, the relationship between the correction factor and roughness height was established. In agreement with a previous study by Ali et al., for a sediment-free flow the correction factor increases with roughness height. Finally, the velocity profile measurements carried out for a sediment-laden flow in motion on a smooth bed were used to state the effect of sediment load on the correction factor. This last analysis allowed to conclude, in agreement with Li and Abrahams and Zhang et al., that the correction factor decreases when the sediment load increases.

Water erosion is one of the most important soil degradation processes and rill erosion contribution to total soil loss is usually dominant as compared to interrill erosion. Rill erosion modelling requires that rill flow has to be adequately modelled. Flow depths in rills are typically of the order of millimeters to several centimeters and bed topography, characterized by steep slope values, significantly affects flow hydraulics. In this paper, a new technique for measuring the water depth inside a rill channel is proposed and the effects on flow resistance estimate are examined. This technique couples an accurate ground survey of the rill channel, obtained by close-range photogrammetry, with the survey of the water tracks inside the channel. The comparison between the water depth measurements carried out by a micro-hydrometer (local technique) and those obtained by the water tracks (volumetric technique) demonstrated that the data pairs are characterized by a wide scattering respect to the line of perfect-agreement. Furthermore, the hydraulic radius values obtained by the proposed volumetric technique are always greater than those corresponding to the local technique. The developed analysis showed that the volumetric technique is affected by the adopted cross-section spacing even if reliable results can be also obtained using a distance interval which is equal to ten times the best investigated reference condition, which corresponds to the minimum tested distance interval, having the same order of magnitude of the mean 3D-DTM resolution. Using of the volumetric measurement technique for the water depth improved the agreement between the measured Darcy-Weisbach friction factor values and those calculated by the theoretical flow resistance law based on a power-velocity profile. Finally, a constant scale factor (equal to 0.8257) was proposed to convert the Γ function of the power velocity profile obtained by local measurements into that corresponding to the volumetric technique.

In the present work, trisilanol phenyl polyhedral olygomeric silsesquiosane (TSPh-POSS) has been physically immobilized onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) bearing covalently linked Br-terminated long-alkyl chain (Br-alkyl-f-CNTs), and the so obtained hybrid nanoparticles (Br-alkyl-f-CNTs/TSPh-POSS) have been used to prepare ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)-based nanocomposites with enhanced thermo-oxidative resistance. The effective immobilization of the TSPh-POSS molecules has been confirmed by spectroscopic and thermo-gravimetric analyses. Besides, the influence of the hybrid nanoparticles on the rheological and mechanical behaviour and morphology of the nanocomposites have been fully investigated. The obtained results show that the rheological and thermo-mechanical behaviour of UHMWPE/Br-alkyl-f-CNTs/TSPh-POSS nanocomposite is affected by two different opposite contributions: reinforcement effect of CNTs and plasticizing action induced by TSPh-POSS molecules. The unexpected excellent thermo-oxidative resistance of the nanocomposite containing hybrid nanoparticles seems to be due to a synergistic effect of TSPh-POSS and CNTs. Moreover, TSPh-POSS molecules, upon thermo-oxidative treatment, are able to migrate toward film surface, forming a TSPh-POSS-rich protective layer that hinders the oxygen diffusion.

Flumes for indirect discharge measurements are widespread and are characterized by a particular shape of the cross section area with various degrees of convergence and subsequent divergence. The flume named Samani, Magallanez, Baiamonte, Ferro (SMBF) is a simple and inexpensive instrument and its channel contraction is obtained by applying two semicylinders to the walls of a rectangular cross section. At first, in this paper a new stage-discharge equation for the SMBF flume is theoretically deduced. Then, this equation is experimentally calibrated using the laboratory measurements from the literature for different values of the contraction ratio. Finally the field measurements carried out at Sparacia experimental area (Sicily, South Italy) by a SMBF flume inserted into a horizontal flume and characterized by a contraction ratio equal to 0.5, are used for testing both the new stage-discharge relationship and the one originally proposed in the literature.

Rills evolve morphologically, and the adjustment of rill channel geometry to flow affects the relationships among velocity, discharge, and slope. The resistance to flow in step-pool rills is mainly due to form-induced mechanisms and, in comparison, grain resistance is of minor significance. Previous studies on rill flow resistance have been performed exclusively for grainresistance conditions and use a stream flow equation. In this study, a new flow resistance equation, deduced by applying dimensional analysis and self-similarity theory, was applied to rill flow in step-pool channels. First, the incomplete self-similarity hypothesis was used for establishing a power flow velocity profile whose integration gives the theoretical expression of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor. Then the deduced theoretical resistance equation was tested by measurements of flow velocity, water depth, channel width, and bed slope performed in 49 reaches of some rills having a step-pool bed. A relationship between the velocity profile, the channel slope, and the flow Froude number was established. The analysis showed that the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor can be accurately estimated by the proposed theoretical approach based on a power-velocity profile. The Darcy-Weisbach friction factor values related to rills with step-pool sequences, on average, are higher than those related to rills without step pools, signifying that rills where step-pool sequences occur are characterized by a total resistance (grain and morphological) that is higher than grain resistance. Finally, this investigation showed that step pools that maximize flow resistance may develop at Froude numbers below the range at which step pools may form as antidunes.

Producción Científica, Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale based on the large dataset and number of soil erosion experimental stations., Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad - FEDER (CGL2014 52135-C3-3-R; ESP2017-89463-C3-3-R; CGL2014-59946-R; CGL2015-65569-R; CGL2015-64284- C2-2-R; CGL2015-64284-C2-1-R; CGL2016-78075-P; GL2008-02879/BTE; LEDDRA 243857; RECARE-FP7; CGL2017-83866-C3-1-R y PCIN-2017- 061/AEI), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (FJCI-2017-33652), Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (TAD/CRP JA00088807), Junta de Castilla y León - FEDER (CLU-2018-04)