Comparative rates of wind and water erosion on typical farmland at the northern end of the Loess Plateau, China

Abstract

Compound erosion of wind and water is a serious global environmental problem, and the relative magnitude of water versus wind erosion has important implications for future studies and soil conservation practices. However, currently, field measurements of compound erosion are rarely reported, probably due to the lack of generally accepted wind erosion measurement methods. In this study, an agricultural field at the northern end of the Loess Plateau was selected to measure the compound erosion from 2012 to 2014, in which water erosion was measured by runoff plots, while wind erosion was measured using BSNE samplers. The results indicated that: 1) annual water erosion ranged from 8.1 to 89.4 t ha−1 a−1 with a mean of 43.8 t ha−1 a−1, while wind erosion ranged from 0.82 to 2.12 t ha−1 a−1 with a mean of 1.58 t ha−1 a−1; 2) water erosion primarily occurred in the summer, while wind erosion occurred in the spring, and substantial variability was revealed on both the interannual and intra-annual scales for both erosion processes; 3) the compound erosion was temporally alternated and spatially overlaid in the selected field, and wind erosion only accounted for 3% of the compound erosion. Although water erosion greatly exceeded wind erosion for the selected agricultural field, the need for measuring and monitoring over a longer period to cover the natural variability of weather conditions is highlighted. The relative magnitude of water versus wind erosion was quantified, but more relevant studies are needed, since these studies usually have important implications for future studies and soil conservation practices.