Rainfall Simulators Application for Assessment of Effectiveness of Soil Erosion Control Measures

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68407700%3A21110%2F23%3A00366442" target="_blank" >RIV/68407700:21110/23:00366442 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Rainfall Simulators Application for Assessment of Effectiveness of Soil Erosion Control Measures

Original language description

The USLE equation is the basic method for estimating soil loss in Europe. The model calculates long-term average values of soil loss over large areas, but requires accurate input parameters for reliable results. The method was developed many decades ago, and its parameters have been largely adopted from the United States without major revisions related to new crops and technologies. This paper focuses on one of the parameters of the equation, the c-factor, which describes the effect of plant cover. The c-factor has been determined on the experimental plots with natural rainfall for USLE and using rainfall experiments for RUSLE, but the data are outdated. The aim of constructing a large-scale rainfall simulator in the Czech Republic was to revise the c-factor values using the most common vegetation cover in the region. The FULLJET nozzle type rainfall simulator (kinetic energy 10 J/m2/mm) with experimental plot 8 x 2 m in slope of 9% in field condition was used for this reasearch. During each experiment, 2 measurements were taken, the first on a plot with natural condition and the second on a fully saturated plot after the first experiment. Natural conditions mean actual wetness of the soil in the day of the experiment, the soil moisture was recorded before and after the experiment. The experimental plots with crops were compared to the plots with bare soil. A revised catalogue of c-factor values for crop rotation was published after more than 300 experiments conducted on 8 x 2 m plots over a period of 4 years (2015-2018). The ongoing study resulted in another 4 years of trials (2019-2022) and a catalogue of c-factor values based on agricultural methods was published. Now the measurement continues with additional crops and soil conservation practices. Based on the measurements, a database with the soil loss ratio was calculated a daily rate. Experiments with a large rainfall simulator are very time consuming and required a lot of personnel. Since the beginning of 2022, a new small rainfall simulator has been used to estimate the c-factor values on 1 x 1 meter plots. Now we are looking for a comparison between the large and small plots. This research is at an early stage, but if successful, will allow more experiments to be carried out during the day. The new large rainfall simulator, which is now in the initial testing phase, will be used in the 2023 season for field experiments. It allows the simulation to be run on four 4 x 2 m plots or to combine plots into a larger one. This research was supported by project QK22010261, 8J23DE006, SS03010332 and by the Grant Agency of the CTU in Prague SGS23/155/OHK1/3T/11.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10501 - Hydrology

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů