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ProEnvironment

ProEnvironment 4 (2011) 240 - 246

Original Artice

Soil Conservation Service Curve Number Method for Surface

Runoff Estimation Using GIS Techniques, in Roşia Poieni
Mining Area (Romania)
MELENTI Ioana Laura*, Agnes Alexandra KERI, Tiberiu RUSU

Technical University, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, 103 – 105 Muncii St., Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Received 21June 2011; received and revised form 31 July 2011; accepted 28 August 2011
Available online 1 December 2011

Abstract

Understanding surface runoff in mining regions allows us to prevent and minimize the impact of spoiled soil,
waste rocks and tailings on streams water. The objective of this study was to estimate the surface runoff in Roşia Poieni
mining area, using the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method. Geographic Information Systems
were applied as tools to store, analyze and manage spatial information. ArcCN-Runoff tool, an extension of ESRI
ArcGIS software, was used for the study. Based on the soil and land use data, curve numbers and runoff maps were
produced.

Keywords: runoff, hydrological modelling, GIS, land cover, soil hydro-groups

1. Introduction Vegetation has positive as well as negative effects

Mining activities are beneficial for the
economy of a country, but can have negative impact
on the environment. Mining waste rocks and tailings
are an environmental problem, due to their high
concentration in heavy metals and hazardous
substances. The surface runoff is amplifying this
problem by transporting contaminants from these
mining wastes in soil and surface or ground water.
Therefore, understanding how runoff is spatially
distributed has great importance on soil
contamination assessment.
There are three main factors that refer to
surface runoff: vegetation, soil type and the amount
of precipitation. Vegetation shows its influence on
surface runoff by changing the precipitation flow.
Forests have a great role in regulating the maximum
flows, increasing the minimum flows and
decreasing the medium flows.
* Corresponding author.
Tel.: +40 264 415054; Fax: +40 264 592 055
e-mail: laura_melenti@yahoo.com
on runoff [1]. The positive ones are due to forests,
which help precipitation flow, decreases sunstroke,
thus decreasing water evaporation from soil due to
slow warming of soil. Another important effect of
forests is that they retain and slow down the snow
melting, in some cases last to almost a month, which
favours infiltrations in soil and reduces the size of
floods. Vegetation has also negative impacts.
Canopy trees have an influence in decrease of
precipitation that falls on the soil, by retaining a part
of precipitation on the leaves and helping. Another
negative effect is that forest evaporation and
hidrosis causes losses of water in soil, decreasing
this way, the ground water level.
On the other hand, soil has a direct influence
on the runoff, because it is the main environmental
element in which it is forming. Its physical and
mechanical characteristics, like texture, structure,
permeability etc, have a great impact on surface
runoff. Permeable soils increase infiltration, driving
up the groundwater levels, thus permeability plays
an important role in runoff.

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Geographical information systems (GIS)
provide a useful approach on identifying runoff
potential zones [2, 13] and estimating pollution [6],
by collecting, storing, analysing and displaying
spatial data.
In this study, potential runoff zones are
identified with the use of GIS. To achieve this
objective it was necessary to identify and obtain the
relevant data, develop the required databases and
specify how these data are to be utilised in a GIS
working environment, in order to meet the goal of
reflecting the spatial extent of runoff in Roşia Poieni
mining area.
2.Materials and methods
2.1.Study area
Porphyry-copper deposits at Roşia Poieni are
located in the South of Apuseni Mountains, in the
Alba County, Romania. Roşia Poieni open-pit was
inaugurated in 1978. It is the largest porphyry-
copper deposit in Romania, and the second in
Europe, with over one billion tones ore of 0.36% Cu
and 1.8% S, representing 64.5% of the country's
copper reserves [8].
Due to the exploitation, the Roşia Poieni
landscape area has been modified by the transport of
a big mass from a positive landscape form to a
negative one and by the formations of dumps and
tailing ponds. All of these changes induced intense
erosion processes, landslides, earth falls, but also
formation of acid mine drainage and mobilization of
heavy metals [7], found in the zone’s morphology
through slopes precarious stability. Roşia Poieni
mining zone includes 3 waste piles: Valea
Cuibarului, Geamăna and Obârşia Muntari and 3
tailing ponds: Valea Ştefancei I, Valea Ştefancei II,
Valea Şesei.
2.2.SCS-CN method
The Soil Conservation Services Curve
Number (SCS-CN), renamed as Natural Resources
Conservation Services Curve Number (NRCS-CN)
method is the most widely used technique for
estimating surface runoff for a given amount of
rainfall from small catchments [4, 9]. This method
was developed by the United States Department of
Agriculture, in 1972 [12].
The SCS method considers the relationship of
land cover type and hydrologic soil group, which
together make up the curve number [5], [10]. The
curve number is an index that expresses the
catchment’s runoff response to a rainfall event [10]
and therefore indicates the proportion of rainwater
that contributes to surface runoff. Curve numbers
vary from 0 to 100, greater curve numbers
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representing a greater proportion of surface runoff
[11]. Runoff is estimated by the formula [14]:
( P − 0 .2 S ) 2
Q= (m3) for P ⊇ 0.2 S (1)
P + 0 .8 S
Q=0 (m3) for P ⊆ 0.2 S (2)
where,
Q – runoff
P – rainfall
S – the potential of maximum retention of soil
If the metric system is used, the equation for
determining S is the following
2540
S= − 25.4 (3)
CN
and
1000
CN = (4)
10 + S
ArcCN-Runoff [14] extension was used for
runoff estimation, based on calculated curve number
for each spatial unit. In order to do this, a database
on soil and land cover was necessary. The data input
were: a soil map of 1:200.000 scales, which includes
soil types and textures and a land cover map. The
soil layer was digitised in ArcGIS Desktop 9.2 and
after clipped to the study area. Based on this map,
hydrological soil groups were identified, depending
on soil texture and permeability, forming a data
base. The land cover is the extent and type of
vegetation covering the surface of a collector basin.
It was derived from CORINE Land Cover 2000
database and adapted for the SCS-CN conditions.
Using GIS methodology for calculating the
maximum flow through the SCS-CN method, we
made a map representing the intersection of soil and
land coverage, which were previously clipped to the
area of interest, to represent a uniform database for
identifying those areas, witch have the
characteristics of the two spatial entities; its attribute
table stores information about the type of land use
and hydrologic soil group.
3. Results
Depending on the texture (grading) indicating
the size, shape of soil particles (gravel, sand, dust,
clay), and the rate at which they are part of different
soils, the soil can be classified into three broad
categories: light soils, containing over 70% sand,
medium soils, containing sand up to 70% and clay
up to 35%, and heavy soils with a clay content
greater than 35%. Thus, depending on soil texture
 MELENTI Ioana Laura et al./ProEnvironment 4(2011) 240 - 246
can be determined the soil’s permeability (figure 1).
Based on these features the soil’s hydro groups
could be defined [1]:
Figure 1. Soil permeability in the area of interest
Category B – medium soils (sandy-loam) are
balanced in terms of soil texture. In this category are
the cambisols and lithosols.
Category C – is characterized by soils that
facilitate a low rate of water infiltration with a
loamy profile.
Category D – impervious soils (a clay loam,
silty-clay, clay), is characterized by a high water
retention capacity. Irrigation of such lands can lead
to formation of small ponds or surface water, land
degradation and default to the worsening conditions
of the plant. This category includes luvisols,
rendzinas, regosols.
Clipped land cover layer is presented in fig. 2.
The forest is present, in almost all the
hydrological basins analyzed, comprising 34.2% of
the covered area, while transitional wood-land
shrub, make 8.3%.
Pastures occupy about 33.4% (fig. 3) and of
cultivated land, 10.6%.
Cultivated lands have effects on the runoff,
which is reflected by the fact that surface drainage is
facilitated by the plowing’s type and execution
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Category A – permeable soils (sandy, sandy-
clay), is characterized by low water retention
capacity. In this category fall the erratic soils.
downhill; evapo-transpiration is high on cultivated
lands and infiltration decreases, the main cause is
the destruction of soil structure.
After intersecting the two layers, a map
called “soil cover” is formed.
Through the use of ArcCN-runoff extension,
curve numbers were automatically identified and a
column was created in the attributes table that
specifies the value of each combination of layers,
using index.dbf table as input (fig. 4).
The resulting map can be seen in figure 5 and
the related database in table 1.
This map gives us a first impression on the
surface runoff, since a high CN indicates a high
runoff and low water infiltration, while a small CN
value indicates low runoff and high infiltrations
[14]. Thus, CN has high values in the settlements
area, at the Rosia Poieni open-pit, at the waste
dumps and on cultivated land, and where soils from
D hydro-group.
CN values are very low in all forest types and
in particular on hydro-group A soils, which are
highly permeable.
 MELENTI Ioana Laura et al./ProEnvironment 4(2011) 240 - 246

Figure 2. Land cover map for the study area (from Corine LC 2000)

Urban fabric

8,3% 6,4% Mineral extraction sites

1,5%
2,6% 5,6% Pastures
0,6% Agricultural areas

Broad-leaved forest

Coniferous forest
31,0% 33,4%
Mixed forest

Transitional woodland-shrub
10,6%
Tailing pond

Figure 3. Land Cover percentage

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Figure 4. Working panel of ArcCN-Runoff extension

The resulting map can be seen in figure 5
and the related database in table 1. This map gives
us a first impression on the surface runoff, since a
high CN indicates a high runoff and low water
infiltration, while a small CN value indicates low
runoff and high infiltrations [14]. Thus, CN has high
values in the settlements area, at the Rosia Poieni
open-pit, at the waste dumps and on cultivated land,
and where soils from D hydro-group. CN values are
very low in all forest types and in particular on
hydro-group A soils, which are highly permeable.
The final results can be seen in figure 6,
which is a map of surface runoff for Roşia Poieni
mining area, and in table 2, which describes the
numerical results. Runoff is minimal in most of the
studied area, with values between 0.01 and 0.15
around the settlements, on Muşcanilor Valley and
the East part of Şesei Valley tailing pond (TMF) due
to rendzinic soil. Relatively average runoff values
for this area, are within the Rosia Poieni open-pit,
the waste dumps, in the Muşcanilor Valley, in Lupşa
Village and around the Şesei Valley TMF, with
possible negative effects, in case of heavy rainfall.
The highest values, in this case, are between 0.26
and 0.50, in few places, within localities, but also in
the limestone quarry Româneasca Creek.

Table 1. Curve numbers for land cover and soil hydro-groups

Land cover Soil hydro-groups
A B C D
Urban/rural fabric 61 75 - 87
Mining extraction sites - 88 - 93
Pasture 49 69 - 84
Agricultural land 77 86 - 94
Broad-leaved forest 36 60 - 79
Coniferous forest 40 66 - -
Mixed forest 38 63 - 82
Transitional wood-land shrub 43 65 - 82
Tailing pond - 0 - -

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Figure 5. CN (curve number) map derived based on the use of depending on land and soil
hydrological conditions of these

Figure 6. Runoff map for Roşia Poieni mining area

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Table 2. Calculated results for runoff depending on land cover and soil hydro-group
Land cover Soil hydro-groups
A B C D
Urban/rural fabric 0 0.03 - 0.22
Mining extraction sites - 0.25 - 0.45
Pasture 0 0 - 0.15
Agricultural land 0.05 0.20 - 0.50
Broad-leaved forest 0 0 - 0.07
Coniferous forest 0 0 - -
Mixed forest 0 0 - 0.11
Transitional wood-land 0 0 - 0.11
shrub
Tailing pond - 0 - -

4. Conclusions

SCS-CN method was successfully used to

estimate surface runoff for Roşia Poieni mining area.
By analyzing the runoff area shows that the
highest values recorded in the Roşia Poieni career,
on the waste dumps in Valley Muşcanilor, in Lupşa
village, within localities, but also in the limestone
quarry Româneasca Creek. Of particular importance
were the high values recorded in the Şesei Valley
tailing pond, which in times of heavy rainfall creates
risk situations. Future analysis can be carried out on
risks at Şesei Valley tailing pond, regarding local
population exposure and environmental impact.
Acknowledgements
This work has been financed by PRODOC Project,
contract POSDRU/6/1.5/S/5 ID7676.
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