Sediment measurement in reservoirs of small dams for evaluation of MPSIAC model in Semnan province

Evaluation of empirical models for sediment yield in watersheds is a necessity. One of the conventional models in Iran is MPSIAC that has been used extensively. Sediment measurement of small dam's reservoirs is one of the methods for evaluation of these models. In this research, 9 small watersheds were selected in Semnan Province. There is an earth small dam at the outlet of each watershed built in the past 10 years. These dams have not spilled since they were built. Therefore total sediment volume discharged from each watershed was entrapped behind the dams. The amount of deposited sediments in these reservoirs was measured by surveying and estimation of apparent Specific Weight which then compared with estimating values of MPSIAC model by paired t-test. The results showed that the difference between the means for estimated volumes of sediment yield by use of MPSIAC model at the level of 5% had no significant difference while the difference between mean weights of sediments at the level of 5% was significant. Also determination of performance and relative root mean square error showed that MPSIAC model has no appropriate efficiency for application in the region.