Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #321845
Title: AERO: A decision support tool for wind erosion assessment in rangelands and croplands

Author
item Galloza, Magda
item WEBB, NICHOLAS - New Mexico State University
item Herrick, Jeffrey - Jeff

Submitted to: American Geophysical Union
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/30/2015
Publication Date: 12/17/2015
Citation: Galloza, M.S., Webb, N., Herrick, J.E. 2015. AERO: A decision support tool for wind erosion assessment in rangelands and croplands [abstract]. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 14-18, 2015, San Francisco, CA. p. EP43A-0966.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Wind erosion is a key driver of global land degradation, with on- and off-site impacts on agricultural production, air quality, ecosystem services and climate. Measuring rates of wind erosion and dust emission across land use and land cover types is important for quantifying the impacts and identifying and testing practical management options. This process can be assisted by the application of predictive models, which can be a powerful tool for land management agencies. The Aeolian EROsion (AERO) model, a wind erosion and dust emission model interface provides access by non-expert land managers to a sophisticated wind erosion decision-support tool. AERO incorporates land surface processes and sediment transport equations from existing wind erosion models and was designed for application with available national long-term monitoring datasets (e.g. USDI BLM Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring, USDA NRCS Natural Resources Inventory) and monitoring protocols. Ongoing AERO model calibration and validation are supported by geographically diverse data on wind erosion rates and land surface conditions collected by the new National Wind Erosion Research Network. Here we present the new AERO interface, describe parameterization of the underpinning wind erosion model, and provide a summary of the model applications across agricultural lands and rangelands in the United States.