scholarly journals Wind tunnel experiments on the effects of tillage ridge features on wind erosion horizontal fluxes

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 3195-3206 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kardous ◽  
G. Bergametti ◽  
B. Marticorena

Abstract. In addition to the well-known soil factors which control wind erosion on flat, unridged surfaces, two specific processes affect the susceptibility of tillage ridged surfaces to wind erosion: ridge-induced roughness and ridge- trapping efficiency. In order to parameterize horizontal soil fluxes produced by wind over tillage ridges, eight-ridge configurations composed of sandy soil and exhibiting ridge heights to ridge spacing (RH/RS) ratios ranging from 0.18 to 0.38 were experimented in a wind tunnel. These experiments are used to develop a parameterization of the horizontal fluxes over tillage ridged surfaces based only on the geometric characteristics of the ridges. Indeed, the key parameters controlling the horizontal flux, namely the friction velocity, threshold friction velocity and the adjustment coefficient, are derived through specific expressions, from ridge heights (RH) and ridge spacing (RS). This parameterization was evaluated by comparing the results of the simulations to an additional experimental data set and to the data set obtained by Hagen and Armbrust (1992). In both cases, predicted and measured values are found to be in a satisfying agreement. This parameterization was used to evaluate the efficiency of ridges in reducing wind erosion. The results show that ridged surfaces, when compared to a loose, unridged soil surface, lead to an important reduction in the horizontal fluxes (exceeding 60%). Moreover, the effect of ridges in trapping particles contributes for more than 90% in the flux reduction while the ridge roughness effect is weak and decreases when the wind velocity increases.

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 13-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Farsang ◽  
Rainer Duttmann ◽  
Máté Bartus ◽  
József Szatmári ◽  
Károly Barta ◽  
...  

Abstract 25% and 40% of territory of Hungary is moderate to highly vulnerable to deflation. However, precise estimates about the soil loss and related losses of organic matter and nutrients due to wind erosion are missing in most cases. In order to determine magnitudes of nutrient masses removed at wind velocities that frequently occur in SE Hungary, in-situ experiments using a portable wind tunnel have been conducted on small test plots with an erosional length of 5.6 m and a width of 0.65 m. The wind tunnel experiments have been carried through on a Chernozem which is typical for this region. In order to compare the effects of soil coverage on the masses of blown soil sediment and adsorbed nutrients, two soil surface types have been tested under similar soil moisture und atmospheric conditions: (1) bare soil (dead fallow) and (2) bare soil surface interrupted by a row of maize plants directed downwind along the center line of the test plots. The results of our experiments clearly show that a constant wind velocity of 15 m s-1 (at a height of 0.3 m) lasting over a short time period of 10 minutes can already cause noticeable changes in the composition and size of soil aggregates at the top of the soil surface. Due to the grain size selectivity of the erosive forces the relative share of soil aggregates comprising diameters > 1 mm increased by 5-10% compared with the unaffected soil. Moreover it has shown that short time wind erosion events as simulated in this study can result in erosion rates between 100 and 120 g m-2, where the erosion rates measured for bare soils are only slightly, but not significantly higher than those of the loosely vegetated ones. Soil samples taken from sediment traps mounted in different heights close to the outlet of the wind tunnel point to an enrichment of organic matter (OM) of about 0.6 to 1 % by mass referred to the control samples. From these findings has been calculated that the relocation of organic matter within short term wind erosion events can amount to 4.5 to 5.0 g OM m-2. With the help of portable field wind tunnel experiments we can conclude that our valuable, high quality chernozems are struck by wind erosion mainly in drought periods.


2011 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Farsang ◽  
József Szatmári ◽  
Gábor Négyesi ◽  
Máté Bartus ◽  
Károly Barta

Összefoglalva megállapítható, hogy nagyobb szélsebesség hatására több talajanyag erodálódott, és ezzel együtt megnőtt az áthalmozott tápanyag mennyisége is. Minden vizsgált szélsebesség esetében a szélerózió következtében 3–7%-kal megnőtt az 1 mm és annál nagyobb szemcsék, illetve aggregátumok aránya a kiindulási talajanyag felső 0–1 cm-es rétegében. A finomabb szemcse-, illetve aggregátum-átmérők esetén a fújatást követően csökkenést tapasztaltunk. A leginkább a 315 μm és az annál kisebb szemcsék aránya csökkent, átlagosan 1–2%-kal. A minták kémiai és fizikai elemzéseiből megállapítható, hogy a láda utáni humuszosabb, aggregátumosabb szerkezetű minták N-tartalma nagyobb, mint az alapmintáé. A fogók mintáiban nem tapasztaltunk feldúsulást egy vizsgált elem esetében sem, a fogókban összegyűlt talajanyag kálium- és foszfortartalma is kisebb volt, mint az alapmintáé. Ennek oka, hogy az itt csapdázódott üledékben kisebb a tápanyag-megkötődés helyéül szolgáló leiszapolható rész aránya, mint a kiindulási talajanyagban. A vizsgálatainkból látszik, hogy a szélerózió hatására a lebegtetve, illetve ugráltatva áthalmozott talajszemcsékkel és aggregátumokkal szállított humusz 500–3500 kg/ha nagyságrendben mozoghat a vizsgált csernozjom területen akár egyetlen szélesemény hatására is. A kálium-áthalmozódás mértéke elérheti a 100 kg/ha értéket, a foszforé a 70 kg/ha-t, a nitrogénveszteség mértéke pedig akár 200–300 kg/ha is lehet egy szélesemény alkalmával. E tápanyagmennyiség nagy része több száz méter, de akár kilométeres távolságokra is távozhat a területről. Az általunk végzett szélcsatornás vizsgálatok eredményei becslésnek tekinthetők, hiszen vizsgálatunk során növénymaradvány-mentes, szitált és légszáraz talajanyaggal dolgoztunk. A szitálás eredményeként csupán a 2 mm-es és annál kisebb aggregátumok maradtak meg, ami azonban az intenzív művelés alá vont, porosodott, leromlott szerkezetű talajfelszín körülményeit jól közelíti. Ugyanakkor a természetben zajló széleróziós eseményeknek a szélcsatorna-kísérlet csak leegyszerűsített modellváltozata, hiszen az általunk szimulált szélesemények 15 percig tartottak, s nem tudtunk széllökéseket előállítani, melyek a széleróziós események alakulásában nagy jelentőségűek. Ennek tudatában kell a kapott eredményeket értékelni, mégis érdemes velük foglalkozni. A terepi mérésekkel szemben a szélcsatornában végzett vizsgálatoknak éppen az a legfontosabb előnye, hogy ellenőrzött, kontrollált körülmények között végezzük a méréseket, így rengeteg olyan szempontot meg tudunk vizsgálni, amit terepi mérésekkel lehetetlen lenne. Ilyen szempontok a pontos szélsebesség és szélirány hatása, az erodált felület nagysága és tulajdonságai. Kutatásunk következő lépése a szélcsatornás kísérletekkel vizsgált mintaterületeken terepi, mobil szélcsatornás vizsgálatok végzése, valamint terepi üledékcsapdák elhelyezésével a valós szélesemények által elszállított talaj mennyiségének és minőségének meghatározása. Célunk mind pontosabb képet alkotni a hazai jó minőségű csernozjom talajok szélerózió okozta tápanyagveszteségének mértékéről. A mezőgazdasági művelés alatt álló csernozjom területek feltalajában a tápanyag és szerves anyag szélerózió útján történő mozgási törvényszerűségeinek feltárása több szempontból is hasznos: segítséget jelent a területi tervezésben, a defláció szempontjából optimális területhasználat és művelési módok meghatározásában. Képet kapunk arról, hogy a legnagyobb gazdasági potenciállal rendelkező termőtalajunk milyen veszélyeknek van kitéve, s hogy a nem megfelelő időben, nem megfelelő nedvességviszonyok mellett történő talajművelés következtében kialakuló szerkezetromlás (porosodás) miatti deflációs károk milyen tápanyagveszteséggel járhatnak együtt.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Ockelford ◽  
Joanna Bulalrd ◽  
Cheryl McKenna-Neuman ◽  
Patrick O'Brien

<p>Recent studies of soils in the Alps and Middle East indicate airborne transport of microplastics following wind erosion may be significant.  Where microplastics have been entrained by wind they show substantial enrichment ratios compared to mineral particle erosion.  Further, microplastic shape affects enrichment ratios with those for fibres greater than for microbeads which may reflect the lower density and asymmetric shape of microplastics compared to soil particles. This suggests that terrestrial to atmospheric transfer of microplastics could be a significant environmental transport pathway. However, currently we have very little understanding of how the properties, in particular the surface characteristics, of the sediment which they are being eroded from affects their entrainment potential.</p><p>This paper reports wind tunnel studies run to explore the impacts of soil surface characteristics on microplastic flux by wind erosion.  Experiments were performed in a boundary layer simulation wind tunnel with an open-loop suction design.  The tunnel has a working section of 12.5m x 0.7m x 0.76m and is housed in an environmental chamber which, for this study, was held constant at 20 <sup>o</sup>C and 20% RH. In experiments two types of low density microplastic (microbeads and fibres) were mixed into a poorly-sorted soil containing 13% organics.  The polyethylene microbeads had a size range of 212-250 microns and density of 1.2 g cm<sup>3</sup> and the polyester fibres were 5000 microns long and 500-1000 microns in width with a density of 1.38 g cm<sup>3</sup>.  Microplastics were mixed into the sediment in concentrations ranging from 40-1040 mg kg<sup>-1</sup>. For each experiment, test surfaces were prepared by filling a 1.0m x 0.35m x  0.025m metal tray with the given mixture of test material which was lowered into the wind tunnel such that it was flush with the tunnel floor and levelled. The wind tunnel was then switched on and run with increasing wind speeds using 0.25 m s<sup>-1</sup> increments until continuous saltation occurred.  Soil surface roughness was scanned prior to and after each experiment using a high resolution laser scanner (0.5mm resolution over the entire test section).  Transported soil and microplastic particles were captured in bulk using a 2 cm wide by 40 cm tall Guelph-Trent wedge trap that was positioned 2 m downwind of the test bed. </p><p>Discussion concentrates on linking the changes in soil surface topography to the magnitude of microplastic flux where data shows that there is a correlation between the development of the soil surfaces and overall microplastic flux.  Specifically, soil surface roughness is seen as a significant control on microplastic flux where it has a greater overall effect on microplastic fibre flux as compared to the microplastic beads.  The outcome of this research is pertinent to developing understanding surrounding the likely controls and hence propensity of microplastics to be entrained from soil by wind erosion.  </p>


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0244213
Author(s):  
Xia Pan ◽  
Zhenyi Wang ◽  
Yong Gao ◽  
Zhengcai Zhang ◽  
Zhongjv Meng ◽  
...  

Wind erosion has gained increasing attention as one of the most serious global ecological and environmental threats. Windbreaks are effective at decreasing wind erosion by reducing wind speed to protect crops, livestock, and farmsteads, while providing wildlife habitats. Synthetic shrubs can act as novel windbreaks; however, there is limited knowledge on how their design affects wind speed. This study determined the protective effects (airflow field and sheltering efficiency) based on the design of synthetic shrubs in a wind tunnel. Broom-shaped synthetic shrubs weakened the wind speeds mainly at the middle and upper parts of the shrubs (5–14 cm), while for hemisphere-shaped shrubs this effect was greatest near their bases (below 4 cm) and least in the middle and upper parts (7–14 cm). Spindle-shaped synthetic shrubs provided the best reduction effect in wind range and strength. Moreover, the wind speed reduction ratio decreased with improved wind speeds and ranged from 26.25 cm (between the second and third rows) to 52.5 cm (after the third row). These results provide strong evidence that synthetic shrubs should be considered to decrease wind speed and prevent wind erosion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1713-1722
Author(s):  
Howell B. Gonzales ◽  
John Tatarko ◽  
Mark E. Casada ◽  
Ronaldo G. Maghirang ◽  
Lawrence J. Hagen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Maintaining vegetative cover on the soil surface is the most widely used method for control of soil loss by wind erosion. We numerically modeled airflow through artificial standing vegetation (i.e., simulated wheat plants) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A solver (simpleFoam within the OpenFOAM software architecture) was used to simulate airflow through various three-dimensional (3D) canopy structures in a wind tunnel, which were created using another open-source CAD geometry software (Salomé ver. 7.2). This study focused on two specific objectives: (1) model airflow through standing vegetation using CFD, and (2) compare the results of a previous wind tunnel study with various artificial vegetation configurations to the results of the CFD model. Wind speeds measured in the wind tunnel experiment differed slightly from the numerical simulation using CFD, especially near positions where simulated vegetation was present. Effective drag coefficients computed using wind profiles did not differ significantly (p <0.05) between the experimental and simulated results. Results of this study will provide information for research into other types of simulated stubble or sparse vegetation during wind erosion events.HighlightsMeasured airflow through a simulated canopy was successfully modeled using CFD software.Effective drag coefficients did not differ between the experimental and simulated results.Results of this study provide 3-D simulation data of wind flow through a plant canopy. Keywords: 3-D canopy structure, OpenFOAM, Wind erosion, Wind tunnel studies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Ockelford ◽  
Joanna Bullard ◽  
Cheryl McKenna Neuman ◽  
Patrick O'Brien

<p>Recent studies of soils in the Alps and Middle East indicate airborne transport of microplastics following wind erosion may be significant.  Where microplastics have been entrained by wind they show substantial enrichment ratios compared to mineral particle erosion.  Further, microplastic shape affects enrichment ratios with those for fibres greater than for microbeads which may reflect the lower density and asymmetric shape of microplastics compared to soil particles. This suggests that terrestrial to atmospheric transfer of microplastics could be a significant environmental transport pathway. However, currently we have very little understanding of how the properties, in particular the surface characteristics, of the sediment which they are being eroded from affects their entrainment potential.</p><p>This paper reports wind tunnel studies run to explore the impacts of soil surface characteristics on microplastic flux by wind erosion.  Experiments were performed in a boundary layer simulation wind tunnel with an open-loop suction design.  The tunnel has a working section of 12.5m x 0.7m x 0.76m and is housed in an environmental chamber which, for this study, was held constant at 20 <sup>o</sup>C and 20% RH. In experiments two types of low density microplastic (microbeads and fibres) were mixed into a poorly-sorted soil containing 13% organics.  The polyethylene microbeads had a size range of 212-250 microns and density of 1.2 g cm<sup>3</sup> and the polyester fibres were 5000 microns long and 500-1000 microns in width with a density of 1.38 g cm<sup>3</sup>.  Microplastics were mixed into the sediment in concentrations ranging from 40-1040 mg kg<sup>-1</sup>. For each experiment, test surfaces were prepared by filling a 1.0m x 0.35m x  0.025m metal tray with the given mixture of test material which was lowered into the wind tunnel such that it was flush with the tunnel floor and levelled. The wind tunnel was then switched on and run with increasing wind speeds using 0.25 m s<sup>-1</sup> increments until continuous saltation occurred.  Soil surface roughness was scanned prior to and after each experiment using a high resolution laser scanner (0.5mm resolution over the entire test section).  Transported soil and microplastic particles were captured in bulk using a 2 cm wide by 40 cm tall Guelph-Trent wedge trap that was positioned 2 m downwind of the test bed. </p><p>Discussion concentrates on linking the changes in soil surface topography to the magnitude of microplastic flux where data shows that there is a correlation between the development of the soil surfaces and overall microplastic flux.  Specifically, soil surface roughness is seen as a significant control on microplastic flux where it has a greater overall effect on microplastic fibre flux as compared to the microplastic beads.  The outcome of this research is pertinent to developing understanding surrounding the likely controls and hence propensity of microplastics to be entrained from soil by wind erosion. </p>


2004 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 35-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Sato ◽  
Kenji Kosugi ◽  
Atsushi Sato

AbstractThe saltation length of aeolian snow particles and a new parameter, the ejection factor, which expresses the degree of erosion due to drifting snow, were obtained as functions of friction velocity by means of wind-tunnel experiments for semi-hard snow cover. The saturated-snowdrift transport rate was also obtained experimentally as a function of friction velocity. Based on these characteristics and the parameter, the development of the saltation layer of drifting snow along the fetch was simulated under various conditions such as snow hardness, wind speed and snowfall intensity. The main results are as follows. The developing distance denoting the distance required for the saltation layer to attain saturation, X sat, is determined by saltation length, ejection factor and saturated-snowdrift transport rate, all of which depend on wind speed. It is also affected by the magnitude of snowdrift transport rate at the starting point and by the intensity of snowfall if it exists. The dependence of Xsat on wind speed is not simple in the case of semi-hard snow cover: Xsat increases with wind speed under weak to moderate wind conditions and then decreases under moderate to strong wind conditions. It is sensitive to snow hardness: it is about one order longer on hard snow cover than on semi-hard snow cover. Snowfall reduces not only the value of Xsat but also its dependence on snow hardness.


Author(s):  
Farsang Andrea ◽  
Barta Károly ◽  
Szatmári József ◽  
Bartus Máté

Kutatásunk során Magyarország két dél-alföldi réti csernozjom talajú területét vizsgáltuk azon céllal, hogy in situ körülmények között számszerűsítsük a különböző szélesemények által okozott talajveszteség mértékét, az ezzel együtt járó humusz- és tápanyagáthalmozás nagyságrendjét, valamint a két terület defláció érzékenységében tapasztalt különbségek okait.Vizsgálati területeink Békés megyében, Makótól K-re mintegy 10 km-re, Apátfalva külterületén, valamint Csongrád megyében Szegedtől ÉNy-ra 2 km-re helyezkedtek el. Kutatásunk célkitűzései az alábbiak voltak: terepi szélcsatornás mérésekre alapozott laboratóriumi mérések alapján különböző szerkezeti állapotú csernozjom talajokra meghatározni◾az indítósebességet,◾a szélerózióval áthalmozott szedimentben mért makroelem, és humuszanyag feldúsulását,◾valamint az ezekre ható talajtani tényezőket.A hasonló mechanikai összetételű, Szeged és Apátfalva melletti réti csernozjom talajok aggregátum összetételében, valamint a CaCO3 és humusztartalomban megfigyelhető különbségek hatására a Szeged melletti csernozjom mintaterület talaja defláció érzékenyebb. A Szegedtől É-ra eső csernozjomokon 6,5–9,0 m s–1 közötti indítósebesség értékeket mértünk, míg Apátfalván 13,0 m s–1 volt az indítósebesség értéke. Az apátfalvi terület talajának magasabb karbonát- és humusztartalma, valamint aggregátum összetételében mért magasabb morzsa arány az indítósebességérték növelésének irányába hat. A feltalajban a 0,5 mm-nél kisebb aggregátumok magasabb aránya következtében nemcsak kisebb indítósebesség értékeket, hanem nagyobb áthalmozódó talajmennyiséget, valamint ezzel együtt nagyobb mennyiségű humusz- és foszfor elmozdulást mértünk az egységesen 10-10 perces fújatási kísérleteink alkalmával a szegedi mintaterületen. Megállapítható tehát, hogy egyazon talajtípusba eső, s azonos textúrájú (homokos vályog) talajok esetében az aggregátum összetételben, valamint a CaCO3 és humusztartalomban megfigyelhető eltérések hatására jelentős különbségek tapasztalhatók a defláció érzékenység, az indítósebesség, a szediment szállítás módja és a humusz- és elemáthalmozás mértéke között.In our research, two Chernozem soil areas were examined in the southern part of the Great Hungarian Plain in order to quantify the amount of the soil loss, humus and nutrient transport caused by different wind events and in order to show the causes of the differences in the sensitivity of deflation between the two areas.Our study areas were located in Békés County, one of them was near Apátfalva, about 10 km east of Makó, and the other one was 2 km northeast of Szeged in Csongrád County. Our in situ wind tunnel experiments were accomplished on 2–4 June 2011 at Apátfalva and in July 2013 in Szeged. The objectives of our research were the followings:◾determination of the enrichment ratios for humus, macro- and microelements in the wind eroded sediments in the case of Chernozem soils with different structures based on field experiments and laboratory measurements;◾determination the affecting actual soil factors;◾estimation of soil loss and element rearrangement trends on Chernozem arable lands under different wind velocity on plot scale.Because of the differences in the aggregate size distribution, CaCO3 and humus content, Chernozem soil near Szeged is more sensitive to deflation than near Apátfalva. Threshold friction velocity was measured between 6.5 and 9.0 m s–1 near Szeged, while the same parameter was 13.0 m s–1 at Apátfalva. The higher carbonate and humus content and the higher crumb ratio of the soil on the Apátfalva area result increasing threshold friction velocity. Due to the higher proportion of aggregates smaller than 0.5 mm in the topsoil, we have measured not only lower threshold friction velocities, but also a larger quantity of transported soil and a larger humus and phosphorus loss during the uniform 10-10 minute long wind tunnel experiments in the Szeged sample area. It can be concluded that even in spite of the same soil type and same texture there are significant differences between deflation sensitivity, threshold friction velocity, sediment transport mode, humus and nutrient transportation because of the significant differences in aggregate size distribution, CaCO3 and humus content.It means that the agronomic structure of the soils greatly influences the mitigation and aggravation of the soil the stress effects caused by climate change. Extreme weather situations have drawn attention to the fact that improperly applied cultivation methods, tools, and overuse of Chernozem soils can modify the soil structure. One of the most serious affect is the dusting of the surface layer of the soil. During this process the larger macroaggregates disintegrate into microaggregates and the resulting smaller fractions are more exposed to wind erosion.The dust load affecting our settlements is mainly originated from arable lands. The mitigation of this emission is fundamentally based on the regulation of land use, farming practices and deflation. “Best Management Practices” (BMPs) mean a group of selected tools that can reduce or eliminate the transport of pollutants from diffuse sources before, during and/or after agricultural activities. However, these diffuse agricultural loads caused by wind erosion can only be quantified if the magnitude and spatial movement of the dust and pollutants is monitored.


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