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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #364800
Research Project: Science and Technologies for the Sustainable Management of Western Rangeland Systems

Location: Range Management Research

Title: Multi-scale wind erosion monitoring and assessment supported by a National Wind Erosion Research Network

Author
item WEBB, NICHOLAS - New Mexico State University
item EDWARDS, BRANDON - New Mexico State University
item Van Zee, Justin
item Courtright, Ericha
item DUNIWAY, MICHAEL - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item Newingham, Beth
item Pierson Jr, Frederick
item Tatarko, John
item Toledo, David
item Van Pelt, Robert - Scott

Submitted to: Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/2019
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Wind erosion and blowing dust are major concerns for producers and natural resource managers. Land use activities and land management can accelerate wind-driven soil loss, impacting ecosystem dynamics, agricultural production, air quality, human health, biogeochemical cycles, and climate. Wind erosion has large variability in space and time, and consequently is difficult to monitor effectively to support its management. Existing US air quality monitoring programs provide indicators of wind erosion intensity (e.g., particulate matter [PM] concentrations) and associated benchmarks (e.g., Clean Air Act of 1970) that are regulated federally but provide no information about which specific landscapes are eroding, by how much, or when. The National Wind Erosion Research Network was established in 2014 as part of the USDA-ARS Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network to coordinate basic research into wind erosion processes and management across land uses and land cover types in the US, support development of new wind erosion monitoring and modelling capabilities, and facilitate collaboration among agencies to mitigate wind erosion and dust emission impacts. We present an overview of the National Wind Erosion Research Network and ongoing efforts to develop decision-support tools that leverage data from existing soil, vegetation and air quality monitoring programs to assess wind erosion and blowing dust. We demonstrate how a set of core indicators collected by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) monitoring programs can be integrated by an Aeolian Erosion (AERO) model to assess dust emission rates across land uses and scales. The use of such models will assist land managers to assess potential air quality, human health and ecosystem impacts of dust linked to changes in land condition across ecological sites.