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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #91389
Title: THE COMBINED EFFECT OF WIND AND RAIN ON THE SPLASH EROSION PROCESS

Author
item ERPUL, G - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item TACK, K - UNIVERSITY OF GHENT
item Norton, Lloyd
item GABRIELS, D - UNIVERSITY OF GHENT

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A series of tests to evaluate the combined effect of wind and rain on splash erosion were conducted in a wind tunnel rainfall simulation facility. Horizontal wind speeds of 6, 10, and 14 ms-1 were applied on a soil packed in 20 by 55 cm tray placed at the slopes of 7, 15, 20, and 25%. Kinetic energy measurements by the splash cup technique showed that the wind accompanying the rainfall increased the kinetic energy of rainfall, indicating its greater detaching capacity than that of windless rain. An exponential relationship was found between the kinetic energy and the applied wind speed. Soil particle transport by splash was assessed by quantity and distance. Sediment traps at set distances along the wind tunnel length were used to quantify particle transport. The results indicated that soil particles moved at least 6 m in the direction of wind, depending on wind speed and slope in the wind-driven rainfall. This was attributed to the combined action of saltation and rain-induced uplift of soil particles and subsequent transport by wind. Soil particle transport by back splash in the windless rains, however, were at most only 45 cm. This has displayed that in addition to its role in the detachment process, the wind accompanying rainfall is an important consideration in the transport process, which has been ignored in current splash erosion models.