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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Northwest Sustainable Agroecosystems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #85735
Title: SURFACE RESIDUE AND SOIL ROUGHNESS FOR WIND EROSION PROTECTION

Author
item HORNING, LANCE - WASHINGTON STATE UNIV.
item STETLER, LARRY - WASHINGTON STATE UNIV.
item Saxton, Keith

Submitted to: American Society of Agricultural Engineers
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This study determined the impact of surface residue and soil roughness on wind erosion to minimize dust emissions and their impact on air quality and long-term crop production. It was verified that residue cover and random roughness are the major controllable factors to reduce wind erosion potential. The variability of soil characteristics is also highly important to predict the total potential wind erosion hazard. With this understanding of the effectiveness of residue cover and roughness elements in the reduction of wind erosion, farmers will be able to make conservation plans that suit their soils and farming system.

Technical Abstract: The Columbia Plateau region of Washington state is the site of a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary research project to determine the down-wind impact of wind erosion. As part of this project, mathematical relationships were determined for the combined effectiveness of flat plant residue and soil surface random roughness, then compared to similar equations derived from previous research. Data were obtained using a portable wind tunnel, 1.0 m wide, 1.2 m high with a test section 7.3 m long. Eroded soil was collected using a vertical slot sampler 0.75 m high which was near isokinetic at three tunnel velocities. The measured eroded soil was expressed as a ratio of that from an adjacent smooth, bare soil, then regressed against measured flat residue surface cover and random roughness. Predicted soil loss ratio values from the derived equation compared to the measured values with a slope of 0.96 and an r-squared of 0.51 and the derived equation was very similar to that by previous research.