Effect of Land Slope and Rainfall Intensity on Splash Erosion under Simulated Rainfall Condition

摘要

Soil erosion is a global problem that threatens the natural resources seriously. Soil erosion is one of the major threats to agricultural productivity and environmental quality, especially water and soil. With increasing amount of soil loss at the hill slope scale, agricultural productivity is decreasing and environmental quality is deteriorating. Splash erosion is recognized as the first stage in a soil erosion process. The importance of the soil erosion problem and its impact on soil management andconservation led to this study, in which an attempt has been made to study splash detachment process for various combinations of land slopes and rainfall intensities with the help of rainfall simulation system and modified Morgan's splash cup. The studywas conducted under laboratory condition by using rainfall simulation system, capable of generating artificial rainfall almost similar to natural rainfall. The clay soil was used to study the splash erosion. Uniformity coefficient of simulated rainfallwas above 70 per centfor all the six rainfall intensities viz. 7.75,5.80, 4.23, 3.28, 2.04 and 1.07 cm Ir1. The directional splash soil loss rate (kgha':), i.e. upslope and down slope were found increasing with increase in rainfall intensity and land slope. The rate of increase in down slope splash was comparatively more than upslope. The highest soil splash i.e. 16369 kgha~(-1)was observed for combination of 10 per cent land slope and 7.75 cmh~(-1) rainfall intensity in clay soil for the various combination of slope and rainfall intensity.