Soil surface change data of high spatio-temporal resolution from the plot to the catchment scale
Abstract. Limitations of current process-based soil erosion models, valuable tools for predicting and managing soil erosion, lie particularly with today’s data availability, parameter uncertainty, and the integration of changing environmental conditions. This study presents a novel approach to enhance soil erosion modelling through the utilisation of nested high-resolution spatio-temporal data obtained through structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry. This technique permits comprehensive observation of soil surface elevation changes during precipitation events, encompassing data acquisition at diverse scales, from plot to slope to micro-catchment. The study presents a worldwide unique dataset that integrates high-resolution time-lapse photogrammetry, field measurements, and UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) photogrammetric data, collected over nearly four years. This dataset is intended to enhance the understanding of soil erosion processes and serve as a valuable resource for model evaluation and calibration. The authors encourage the broader scientific community to utilise and expand this dataset, which is expected to contribute to the development of more accurate soil erosion models, thereby improving predictions and management strategies.
This is very nice data set and it good to see the team making it available for the research community. I support the intention to publish it, but I think manuscript needs some significant work to make it suitable for publication.
Most of my recommendations are minor, but there are a lot of them. These are marked on the accompanying PDF, mostly they surround improving the clarity of the manuscript and improving the descriptions of the data and the experimental set-up. Paragraphs often jump around between subjects and it is not always clear what the subject of a particular sentence is. I would recommend some thorough editing and proof reading during the revision.
I have three substantive comments:
Please see the annotated PDF for further comments which should be addressed.