Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #136965
Title: WIND-DRIVEN RAINSPLASH EROSION

Author
item ERPUL, G - ANKARA UNIVERSITY
item GABRIELS, D - UNIVERSITY OF GENT
item Norton, Lloyd

Submitted to: International Conference on Wind Erosion and Aeolian Processes
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2002
Publication Date: 7/22/2002
Citation: ERPUL, G., GABRIELS, D., NORTON, L.D. WIND-DRIVEN RAINSPLASH EROSION. 2002. International Conference on Wind Erosion and Aeolian Processes. Pub. 02-2. p. 25-28

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The erosion process involves detachment of soil particles from a soil surface and transport of these particles from their first location. The main agents that loosen, break down, and carry the soil particles are wind and water. Wind and water erosion processes have traditionally been separately studied, and independent models were developed to predict soil erosion by either wind or rain. In nature, erosive rainstorms are usually associated with high winds. Therefore, a quantification of wind and rain interactions and the effects of wind on detachment and transport processes provides a great opportunity for a given technology to improve the estimation of erosion. Soil detachment and transport under wind-driven rain differs from that under windless rain (Lyles et al., 1969, 1974; Disrud and Krauss, 1971; Moeyersons, 1983; De Lima et al., 1992). Usually, if a raindrop falls at an angle, only the component of velocity normal to the soil surface gives rise to an impact pressure (Ellison, 1947; Springer, 1976; Gilley and Finkner, 1985). If we assume that the effect of the wind shear stress on the detachment is insignificant when compared to the effects of the impacting raindrops, the detachment rate at which soil particles are supplied into the air is a function of the normal component of raindrop impact velocity. Additionally, wind, as well as overland flow, is another possible factor capable of transporting the detached particles. Consequently, our approach to the rainsplash transport process under wind-driven rain is based on the concept that once lifted off by the raindrop impact, the soil particles entrained into the splash droplets travel some distance, which varies directly with the wind shear velocity. The raindrop impacts induce the process that wind would otherwise be incapable of transporting. This paper presents experimental data obtained on the wind-driven rainsplash erosion and aims to provide a better basis for modeling the process. The impact of this research is that practices can be developed to better control water erosion by including wind effects.