ARS | Publication request: Overview of the management submodel in the Wind Erosion Prediction System

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: July 15, 2011
Publication Date: September 18, 2011
Citation: Wagner, L.E. 2011. Overview of the management submodel in the Wind Erosion Prediction System. In: Proceedings International Symposium on Erosion and Landscape Evolution (ISELE), 18-21 September 2011, Anchorage, Alaska. ISELE Paper No. 11032. D.C. Flanagan, J.C. Ascough II, and J.L Nieber (eds.). St. Joseph, MI ASABE

Technical Abstract: The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) is a process-based, daily time-step, computer model that predicts soil erosion via simulation of the physical processes controlling wind erosion. WEPS is comprised of several individual modules (submodels) that reflect different sets of physical processes, e.g.: a) erosion (entrainment, transport and deposition of airborne particles); b) hydrology (water movement within the soil); c) plant growth (development of leaf, stem and reproductive plant components); d) residue decomposition (decay of plant materials); e) soil (surface soil conditions changed by daily weather conditions); and f) management (simulation of applied cultural practices). These submodels are supported by four databases: soil, management rotations (consisting of date listed operations with corresponding plant growth/decomposition data), wind barriers and weather, including hourly wind. The WEPS management submodel component attempts to reflect the effects of typical cropping/management practices at an operation level such as tillage, cultivation, planting, harvesting, irrigation, residue burning, etc. upon surface conditions that modulate wind erosion. The variety of land management operations are simulated by identifying the primary physical processes involved and representing each individual operation as a sequenced set of those processes. They include: 1) surface modification (creation or destruction of ridges and/or furrow dikes that form oriented surface roughness, changes in surface random roughness, and destruction of soil crust); 2) mass manipulation (changes in aggregate size distribution and soil porosity, mixing of soil and residue among soil layers, and soil layer inversion); 3) biomass manipulation (burying and resurfacing residue, clipping standing residue, flattening standing residue, killing live crop biomass, and removing biomass); and 4) soil amendments (applications of residue/manure for cover, seeds (planting crops) and water (irrigation). A description of how these management processes are organized and simulated within WEPS is briefly discussed for each process. Examples are provided which demonstrate the flexibility available in representing a wide variety of typical management operations based upon not only the individual processes selected, but also the sequential order in which they are specified to be executed.