Abstract
Soil erosion by the wind is an important phenomenon in drastic soil degradation. In Japan, andosol agricultural field is eroded by the wind and agricultural productivity is significantly affected. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of wind velocity and soil moisture condition on the soil erosion in andosol agricultural fields. Also, we determined the timing and amount of irrigation water needed to prevent soil erosion by the wind with respect to the wind and soil moisture conditions. A numerical model to simulate airflow in bare andosol field was developed using a continuity equation and Navier Stokes equations. Wind tunnel experiments which described a bare andosol field were performed to measure the degree of soil erosion for four levels of soil moisture condition and five wind velocities. Using the measured amount of soil transferred by wind, the erodibility parameter in Bagnold’s method that quantifies soil erosion was estimated inversely for four soil moisture values. The amounts of soil erosion calculated using this parameter were in good agreement with the measured amounts. These results indicate that the soil moisture and wind conditions under which soil erosion occurs can be determined and the amount of soil erosion can be predicted. Using these conditions and the erodibility parameter, the amount of irrigation needed for the prevention of soil erosion was quantified and the effect of irrigation on soil erosion was evaluated.
Highlights
Soil degradation is a very serious environmental problem [1,2]
Arimori et al reported that soil moisture content and the wind velocity when the soil erosion by the wind occurred were evaluated as 8 m s−1, respectively by field measurement in an andosol field [35]
The volumetric water contents of 0.026, 0.100, 0.170 and 0.25 m3 m−3 which were adopted as the experimental conditions in this study corresponds to soil moisture content of 2.6, 9.9, 16.8, 24.8%, respectively
Summary
Soil degradation is a very serious environmental problem [1,2]. The United Nations Environment. Various methods to protect andosol agricultural fields from the soil erosion by the wind include windbreak hedges and nets, ground cover plants, and mulching [15,16,22,23,24,25] Because these methods are expensive, irrigation has been introduced to control soil moisture and prevent soil erosion by the wind [26]. A numerical model to simulate airflow in bare andosol field was developed using a continuity equation and Navier Stokes equations This method is effective for clarifying the micro-scale advection in the irrigated-soil surface and airflow distribution in the agricultural field considering the crop canopy [30,31]. Wind tunnel experiments which described a bare andosol field were performed to measure the amount of soil erosion for four levels of soil moisture condition and five wind velocities to determine erodibility parameter. Scenario analyses were performed to quantify the amount of irrigation needed for the prevention of soil erosion and evaluate the effect of irrigation on soil erosion
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