Comparison of Models Describing the Vertical Distribution of Wind‐Eroded Sediment

Abstract

AbstractFor the study of field wind erosion, detailed observations of windblown sediment transport in the field are needed. The objective of this study was to determine the best method to quantify the mass of wind‐blown material moving past a fixed point during four storms. Twenty‐one Modified Wilson and Cooke (MWAC) sediment catchers were installed in a pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] field in the Sahelian zone of Niger, on a sandy, siliceous, isohyperthermic Psammentic Paleustalf. Each catcher trapped materials at seven heights between 0.05 and 1.00 m. The vertical profiles of measured horizontal mass fluxes were described by two different models, a three‐parameter power function and a five‐parameter combined model, which is a combination of an exponential function and a power function. For all four storms, both models described accurately the mass fluxes between 0.05 and 0.26 m, but fitted mass fluxes at 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 m deviated from measured fluxes. Deviations were 21.1, 45.2, and 60.6% for the power function and 12.4, 18.5, and 38.0% for the combined model. Mass transport rates were calculated by integrating the mass flux profiles across height. The differences in calculated mass transport rates were small, but because of the better fit, the combined model was preferred. Correcting for the trapping efficiency of the MWAC catchers (0.49) and multiplying by the storm duration resulted in total mass transport values, which are equal to the mass of soil passing a strip of 1‐m width perpendicular to the mean wind direction. The average mass transport values were 102.7, 15.5, 31.8, and 149.8 kg m−1, respectively, for the four storms.