ARS | Publication request: Erodibility from natural rainfall events on soils of the Pacific Northwest

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: September 2, 2008
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Erosion event data from long-term USLE-size continuous fallow plots (Palouse silt loam) at the Palouse Conservation Field Station (PCFS) at Pullman, WA and similar plots (Thatuna silt loam) near the Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center (CPCRC) at Pendleton, OR provided an opportunity to calculate soil erodibility from natural winter rainfall events. All events involving snow melt or frozen soil were eliminated from the analysis. Thus, only rainfall-driven events were considered, and infiltration and erodibility were not influenced by frozen or thaw-weakened soil. Never-the-less, winter erodibility values were 8 times larger than those calculated using the USLE erodibility nomograph. This data, combined with data from flume and other studies, provides basis for improving performance of RUSLE and WEPP under winter conditions.