Wind Versus Water Erosion in the Context of Desertification

Abstract

While the Workshop on the Physics of Desertification focused on the process of wind erosion, it is important to realize that desertification is a much broader issue, and that land degradation itself is not limited to wind erosion. This paper attempts to compare wind to water erosion from the point of view of their respective characteristics and impacts. The relative importance of water and wind erosion processes must be assessed on a local basis, but both forms of erosion are very damaging, and threaten the long-term economic viability of many arid and semi-arid regions.