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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Northwest Sustainable Agroecosystems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #368531
Research Project: Improving Air Quality, Soil Health and Nutrient Use Efficiency to Increase Northwest Agroecosystem Performance

Location: Northwest Sustainable Agroecosystems Research

Title: Modeling soil wind erosion from agro-ecological classes of the Pacific Northwest in response to current climate

Author
item PI, HUAWEI - Washington State University
item Huggins, David
item ABATZOGLOU, JOHN - University Of Idaho
item Sharratt, Brenton

Submitted to: Journal of Geophysical Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/16/2019
Publication Date: 10/16/2019
Citation: Pi, H., Huggins, D.R., Abatzoglou, J., Sharratt, B.S. 2019. Modeling soil wind erosion from agro-ecological classes of the Pacific Northwest in response to current climate. Journal of Geophysical Research. 125(2): e2019JD031104. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031104.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031104

Interpretive Summary: Soil erosion due to wind is a major concern of the agricultural community in the inland Pacific Northwest (iPNW) United States. We predicted soil erosion due to wind from agro-ecological classes (AECs) of iPNW based on soil and land use types. Here, the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) model was used to simulate soil and PM10 (particulate matter =10 µm in aerodynamic diameter) losses at 29 meteorological stations across the iPNW. We found that annual soil and PM10 loss had decreased from 2009 through 2018, likely due to decreased wind speed, rather than differences in precipitation or sunlight. Also, wind erosion occurred most frequently during March and April, and the greatest annual soil and PM10 loss occurred in the grain-fallow AEC compared to all other AECs. We concluded that efforts to increase crop cover are critical to future reductions in soil erosion.

Technical Abstract: Soil wind erosion is a major concern of the agricultural community in the inland Pacific Northwest (iPNW) United States. This study quantitatively predicts dust emissions from agro-ecological classes (AECs) of iPNW based on soil and land use types in response to climate change. The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) was used to simulate daily soil and PM10 (particulate matter =10 µm in aerodynamic diameter) loss at 29 meteorological stations across the iPNW. From 2009 to 2018, annual soil and PM10 loss decreased 1.18 kg m-2 yr-1 and 0.05 kg m-2yr-1, respectively. We presume this decrease is due to decreased wind speed, rather than other variables such as precipitation or solar radiation. St. John, WA not only had the greatest annual soil loss, but also the greatest mean wind speed and number of events with wind speeds> 8ms-1. However, Lind, WA appeared to have greater soil surface erodibility in terms of greater rates of hourly soil and PM10 loss. Wind erosion occurred most frequently during March and April. The average maximum annual soil and PM10 loss in the grain-fallow AEC (24.7 and 0.63 kg m-2 respectively) exceeded that of all other AECs. This suggested that maintaining crop cover is critical for protecting the soil surface from erosion.