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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (5): 97-107.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2023.00039

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Effect of moss crust coverage and spatial distribution on soil wind erosion using wind tunnel experiments and simulations

Yali Ma1(), Zhiduo Wang2, Jiaqiong Zhang1,3(), Yusuo Xu3,4, Yuanyuan Li5   

  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau,Institute of Soil and Water Conservation /, Northwest A & F University,Yangling 712100,Shaanxi,China
    2.College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A & F University,Yangling 712100,Shaanxi,China
    3.Institute of Soil and Water Conservation,Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources,Yangling 712100,Shaanxi,China
    4.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China
    5.School of Agricultural Sciences,Zhengzhou University,Zhengzhou 450001,China
  • Received:2023-02-03 Revised:2023-04-12 Online:2023-09-20 Published:2023-09-27
  • Contact: Jiaqiong Zhang

Abstract:

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) play an important role in wind erosion control in arid and semiarid regions. It is of great significance to clarify the influence of biocrusts on soil wind erosion and to quantify biocrust factors in wind erosion prediction models to improve the accuracy and reliability of wind erosion prediction. This study analyzed differences in wind erosion and sediment transport rates when affected by the coverage and spatial distribution of moss crust by combining wind tunnel experiments and SWEEP simulations. The results showed that: (1) Both the wind erosion and sediment transport rates decreased with increasing crust coverage, particularly at high wind speeds (15 m·s-1). The average wind erosion and sediment transport rates decreased by 98.3% and 99.3%, respectively, in wind tunnel experiments when crust coverage increased from 10% to 80%, while they decreased by 93.2% and 78.9%, respectively, according to the SWEEP simulation. (2) The wind erosion and sediment transport rates were relatively low when moss crusts were distributed in the upwind area of the experimental trays, followed by patchily distributed moss crusts, while they were the most severe when moss crusts were located in the downwind area under conditions of the same crust coverage. (3) Compared with the results of wind tunnel experiments and SWEEP simulations, the wind erosion and sediment transport rates based on the SWEEP simulation under different crust coverages were significantly (P<0.05) larger compared to those based on the wind tunnel experiments. In order to improve the accuracy of wind erosion prediction models, a quantitative expression of the effect of biocrust factors on wind erosion rates should be constructed in future research.

Key words: wind tunnel experiment, single-event wind erosion evaluation program, moss crust, wind erosion rate, near-surface sediment transport rate

CLC Number: