Spatially and temporally assessing event-based wind erosion in adjacent plots of fallow and wheat cultivation in the Central Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT Wind erosion is most likely influenced by unsuitable tillage and is considered critically harmful process for sustainable agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions as drought becomes more frequent and severe due to changes in the climate. The study was conducted for spatial modelling of aeolian sediment transport over adjacent plots managed by wheat-fallow rotation system under rainfed agriculture in the semi-arid region of Turkey. Four erosion events took place and the results were evaluated using data of 8 measurements over two plots during events. Wind-driven sediment transport rates (Qt) varied between 0.0015 and 0.0075 kg m−1 h−1, highly depending upon the prevalent land surface characteristics during each case, and there was no event-based conclusion that the semi-arid dryland fallow system would exacerbate wind erosion losses when Qt values from either plot were compared. Of all cases, particularly, the greatest soil loss occurred in Case 3 over the fallow plot, for which Qt values were 0.0075 kg m−1 h−1 when wheat crop provided full soil cover above the next plot. Geostatistical analyses revealed the range values as between 450 and 800 m. Kriging maps showed that spatial patterns of Qt values of cases for both land uses were almost quite different.