scholarly journals Determination of wind erosion intensity on heavy clay soils

Author(s):  
Jana Kozlovsky Dufková ◽  
Vladan Jareš ◽  
Petr Húsek

Wind erosion, common problem of light-textured soils, was determined on heavy clay soils in the foothills of Bílé Karpaty Mountains, Czech Republic. Soil erodibility by wind was determined from the Map of potential erodibility of soil by wind and from the calculation of potential and real soil loss by wind. All the determinations show underestimation of soil erodibility by wind on heavy clay soils, because methods that are used for this are based above all on the assessment of clay particles content and the presumption the more clay particles soil contains, the less vulnerable to wind erosion is. The potential erodibility of soil by wind is 0,09 t . ha−1 per year. The determined value does not exceed the tolerable soil loss limit 10 t . ha−1 per year for deep soils. The real average erodibility of soil by wind has the highest value 1,47 g . m−2 on November 30th, 2008. Other soil losses that do not exceed the tolerable soil loss limit 1,4 g . m−2, were determined on March 18th and 28th, 2008. Big difficulties come with the assessment of the erodibility of heavy clay soils in the areas, where soil erosion ve­ri­fia­bly exists, but it is not assessable by objective calculating methods. Evident necessity of new know­ledge concerning the determination of wind erosion intensity follows from the results.

Author(s):  
Jana Dufková

Areas the most susceptible to wind erosion were chosen for the comparison of potential and real erodibility of soil by wind. All the areas are located in the Southern Moravia, the south-east of the Czech Republic. Ambulatory measurements of parameters required for wind erodibility determination were done during 2006 in three districts that are heavily endangered by wind erosion (districts of Breclav, Znojmo and Uherske Hradiste). Potential and real erodibility by wind was determined from wind velocity, soil humidity, content of clay and non-erodible soil particles. Potential soil loss does not go over the limit of the tolerable amount of soil loss 10 t.ha – 1.year – 1 at any studied area, even though all the three areas belong to the ones strongly susceptible to wind erosion. On the other hand, the tolerable soil loss for real erodibility 1.4 g.m – 2 was exceeded at two regions. Non-objectivity in the erodibility evaluation of heavy clay soils follows out of the results, as so as evident necessity of new knowledge concerning the determination of wind erosion intensity, because to date used equations come out of presumption that the more clay particles soil contains, the less susceptible to wind erosion is, which is inaccurate.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 523-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. López-Vicente ◽  
A. Navas ◽  
J. Machín

Abstract. The Mediterranean environment is characterized by strong temporal variations in rainfall volume and intensity, soil moisture and vegetation cover along the year. These factors play a key role on soil erosion. The aim of this work is to identify different erosive periods in function of the temporal changes in rainfall and runoff characteristics (erosivity, maximum intensity and number of erosive events), soil properties (soil erodibility in relation to freeze-thaw processes and soil moisture content) and current tillage practices in a set of agricultural fields in a mountainous area of the Central Pyrenees in NE Spain. To this purpose the rainfall and runoff erosivity (R), the soil erodibility (K) and the cover-management (C) factors of the empirical RUSLE soil loss model were used. The R, K and C factors were calculated at monthly scale. The first erosive period extends from July to October and presents the highest values of erosivity (87.8 MJ mm ha−1 h−1), maximum rainfall intensity (22.3 mm h−1) and monthly soil erosion (0.25 Mg ha−1 month−1) with the minimum values of duration of erosive storms, freeze-thaw cycles, soil moisture content and soil erodibility (0.007 Mg h MJ−1 mm−1). This period includes the harvesting and the plowing tillage practices. The second erosive period has a duration of two months, from May to June, and presents the lowest total and monthly soil losses (0.10 Mg ha−1 month−1) that correspond to the maximum protection of the soil by the crop-cover ($C$ factor = 0.05) due to the maximum stage of the growing season and intermediate values of rainfall and runoff erosivity, maximum rainfall intensity and soil erodibility. The third erosive period extends from November to April and has the minimum values of rainfall erosivity (17.5 MJ mm ha−1 h−1) and maximum rainfall intensity (6.0 mm h−1) with the highest number of freeze-thaw cycles, soil moisture content and soil erodibility (0.021 Mg h MJ−1 mm−1) that explain the high value of monthly soil loss (0.24 Mg ha−1 month−1). The interactions between the rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, and cover-management factors explain the similar predicted soil losses for the first and the third erosive periods in spite of the strong temporal differences in the values of the three RUSLE factors. The estimated value of annual soil loss with the RUSLE model (3.34 Mg ha−1 yr−1) was lower than the measured value with 137Cs (5.38 Mg ha−1 yr−1) due to the low values of precipitation recorded during the studied period. To optimize agricultural practices and to promote sustainable strategies for the preservation of fragile Mediterranean agrosystems it is necessary to delay plowing till October, especially in dryland agriculture regions. Thus, the protective role of the crop residues will extend until September when the greatest rainfall occurs together with the highest runoff erosivity and soil losses.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1124
Author(s):  
Salman A. H. Selmy ◽  
Salah H. Abd Al-Aziz ◽  
Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta ◽  
Francisco Jesús García-Navarro ◽  
Mohamed E. Fadl

Soil erosion modeling is becoming more significant in the development and implementation of soil management and conservation policies. For a better understanding of the geographical distribution of soil erosion, spatial-based models of soil erosion are required. The current study proposed a spatial-based model that integrated geographic information systems (GIS) techniques with both the universal soil loss equation (USLE) model and the Index of Land Susceptibility to Wind Erosion (ILSWE). The proposed Spatial Soil Loss Model (SSLM) was designed to generate the potential soil erosion maps based on water erosion and wind erosion by integrating factors of the USLE and ILSWE models into the GIS environment. Hence, the main objective of this study is to predict, quantify, and assess the soil erosion hazards using the SSLM in the Dakhla Oasis as a case study. The water soil loss values were computed by overlaying the values of five factors: the rainfall factor (R-Factor), soil erodibility (K-Factor), topography (LS-Factor), crop types (C-Factor), and conservation practice (P-Factor). The severity of wind-driven soil loss was calculated by overlaying the values of five factors: climatic erosivity (CE-Factor), soil erodibility (E-Factor), soil crust (SC-Factor), vegetation cover (VC-Factor), and surface roughness (SR-Factor). The proposed model was statistically validated by comparing its outputs to the results of USLE and ILSWE models. Soil loss values based on USLE and SSLM varied from 0.26 to 3.51 t ha−1 yr−1 with an average of 1.30 t ha−1 yr−1 and from 0.26 to 3.09 t ha−1 yr−1 with a mean of 1.33 t ha−1 yr−1, respectively. As a result, and according to the assessment of both the USLE and the SSLM, one soil erosion class, the very low class (<6.7 t ha−1 yr−1), has been reported to be the prevalent erosion class in the study area. These findings indicate that the Dakhla Oasis is slightly eroded and more tolerable against water erosion factors under current management conditions. Furthermore, the study area was classified into four classes of wind erosion severity: very slight, slight, moderate, and high, representing 1.0%, 25.2%, 41.5%, and 32.3% of the total study area, respectively, based on the ILSWE model and 0.9%, 25.4%, 43.9%, and 29.9%, respectively, according to the SSLM. Consequently, the Dakhla Oasis is qualified as a promising area for sustainable agriculture when appropriate management is applied. The USLE and ILSWE model rates had a strong positive correlation (r = 0.97 and 0.98, respectively), with the SSLM rates, as well as a strong relationship based on the average linear regression (R2 = 0.94 and 0.97, respectively). The present study is an attempt to adopt a spatial-based model to compute and map the potential soil erosion. It also pointed out that designing soil erosion spatial models using available data sources and the integration of USLE and ILSWE with GIS techniques is a viable option for calculating soil loss rates. Therefore, the proposed soil erosion spatial model is fit for calculating and assessing soil loss rates under this study and is valid for use in other studies under arid regions with the same conditions.


1925 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. V. Bal

In determining the nitrogen content of the heavy black cotton soil of the Central Provinces, India, by the Kjeldahl process it is important that the determinations be carried out on moist and not on air-dried soil. These soils apparently contain a cementing material probably containing iron which is insoluble in concentrated sulphuric acid and protects organic matter in the interior of the compound particles from the action of the acid.It may be that these soils are peculiar in this respect, but it would seem of importance that other workers should take into account the possibility of error in the estimation of nitrogen when using air-dry soils.In conclusion it is with great pleasure that I acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr F. J. Plymen and Dr H. E. Annett for their valuable suggestions and advice during the course of this work.


Author(s):  
Jana Kozlovsky Dufková

Heavy clay soils that are normally resistant to wind erosion, from study site Ostrožská Nová Ves si­tua­ted in the foothills of the Bílé Karpaty Mountains, Czech Republic, were a subject of laboratory analyses. The analyses should found out the influence of overwinter processes on disruption of soil aggregates and thus reason of vulnerability to soil loss by wind. Two overwinter processes were observed – freezing and thawing, and freeze-drying of the soil. Both processes have indicated the increasing of erodible fraction in dependence of water content of analysed soils. Exposed frozen clay soils that freeze-dries during the winter in the foothills of Bílé Karpaty, leaves soils highly erodible in late winter and early spring.


Author(s):  
Jana Dufková ◽  
František Toman ◽  
Milada Šťastná

The comparison of values of the soil erodibility factor  K (which is used in the universal equation for soil loss calculation), that were determined according to the main soil units and values of the K factor determined on the base of texture analysis, has found differences in soil texture in the range of the same main soil unit. The need of the laboratory analyses follows from the comparative analyses for the determination of K factor that is also necessary for determination of threat of soil by water erosion or for the projection of erosion control. The values of K factor that was specified according to the soil ecological units could be possible to take as orientational ones.


Author(s):  
Jana Dufková

The influence of shelterbelts on the erodibility of soil by wind was studied at three chosen shelterbelts of Southern Moravia, Czech Republic – near the shelterbelts in the cadastral areas of Dolní Dunajovice, Micmanice and Suchá Loz. Ambulatory measurements of wind velocity as so as soil sampling for soil humidity analyses, non-erodible and clay particles analyses were done during the year of 2006. Subsequently, real erodibility of soil by wind was determined at these three areas. Results of the measurements and calculations verify positive effect of shelterbelts consisted in wind velocity decreasing (at about 78% in average), soil humidity increasing (at about 102% in average) and soil resistance increasing (at about 70% in average) at the leeward side of the shelterbelts.


Soil Research ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 563 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Loch ◽  
DM Silburn ◽  
DM Freebairn

The first paper of this series identified several parameters to which predictions of the CREAMS erosion model were sensitive. Two of these, soil erodibility parameters nbov and K, cannot be measured directly. Therefore, this paper reports procedures for deriving nbov and K for the CREAMS erosion model from rainulator data. The procedures identify confidence regions for best fit combinations of nbov and K. Fairly specific values of nbov were obtained, but a wide range of K values provided similar near-optimal predictions. Optimum regions of nbov and K for plots where rilling was the dominant erosion process were significantly different to those for plots dominated by rain-flow erosion for two of the three soils studied. The parameters derived from rainulator data were used to predict soil losses for field catchments on two clay soils, for conditions where surface cover by stubble was 110%. Measured rainfall and runoff were used as inputs to the model. For an Irving clay site, the model gave excellent prediction of field soil losses. For a Moola clay site, the larger soil losses were considerably underpredicted, because resistance to rilling on the rainulator plots resulted in lower K values than required for erosion events where rilling is fully developed. The need for parameters to be derived from data reflecting the erosion processes of importance to field soil loss is illustrated. Nonetheless, this study shows that parameters for the CREAMS model can be obtained satisfactorily from rainulator data, provided that the erosion processes studied are relevant, and that there is sufficient replication within the rainulator studies.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 3517
Author(s):  
Boglárka Keller ◽  
Csaba Centeri ◽  
Judit Alexandra Szabó ◽  
Zoltán Szalai ◽  
Gergely Jakab

Climate change induces more extreme precipitation events, which increase the amount of soil loss. There are continuous requests from the decision-makers in the European Union to provide data on soil loss; the question is, which ones should we use? The paper presents the results of USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation), RUSLE (Revised USLE), USLE-M (USLE-Modified) and EPIC (Erosion-Productivity Impact Calculator) modelling, based on rainfall simulations performed in the Koppány Valley, Hungary. Soil losses were measured during low-, moderate- and high-intensity rainfalls on cultivated soils formed on loess. The soil erodibility values were calculated by the equations of the applied soil erosion models and ranged from 0.0028 to 0.0087 t ha h ha−1 MJ−1 mm−1 for the USLE-related models. EPIC produced larger values. The coefficient of determination resulted in an acceptable correlation between the measured and calculated values only in the case of USLE-M. Based on other statistical indicators (e.g., NSEI, RMSE, PBIAS and relative error), RUSLE, USLE and USLE-M resulted in the best performance. Overall, regardless of being non-physically based models, USLE-type models seem to produce accurate soil erodibility values, thus modelling outputs.


1996 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ruppenthal ◽  
D. E. Leihner ◽  
T. H. Hilger ◽  
J. A. Castillo F.

SUMMARYThe rainfall erosivity (R) and soil erodibility (K) factors of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) were determined on two sites in the Colombian Cauca Department over a five year period when rainfall was mostly lower than average. The results showed that the high erosion potential of the soils can be attributed more to high rain erosivity than soil erodibility. The R factor explained between 59 and 81% of the variation in soil loss recorded on continuously clean-tilled fallow plots. The erodibility of Inceptisols in the study region is classified as low. Values for soil erodibility (K) ranged from 0.012 to 0.015 (measured in SI units) in the fifth year of permanent bare fallowing. K factors were higher in the rainy than in the dry season. Soils, previously under grass vegetation, were very resistant to erosion in the first two years of bare fallowing. In the third year erodibility increased sharply and continued to increase steadily until the sixth year. K factors predicted by the USLE nomograph underestimated the empirically-determined erodibility of these highly aggregated clay soils.


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