The potential wind erosion map of an area covered by sandy and loamy soils - based on wind tunnel measurements

摘要

Wind erosion causes an enormous problem in agriculture, and the stirred-up dust influences the air quality and is harmful for human health. In the cultivated agricultural areas of Hungary, soils with different textures often suffer from wind erosion, and due to the global climate change an ever increasing risk rate can be expected. In this study we examined in a wind tunnel the thresholds of wind velocity and erodibility of 80 different soil samples originated from an area covering of approximately 5,000 km(2). Afterwards, based on the resulting data the soils with different texture types were categorized in erosion risk classes. Using the experimental results and the CORINE land cover database, we compiled a potential wind erosion map for the studied area.