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The knowledge of soil erosion processes and especially soil erosion rates in alpine grassland regions is scarce due to the lack of detailed studies. The non-existence of validated methods which are suitable to quantify alpine soil erosion is one of the key issues for the limited process understanding. The aim of this study is to compare different methods and to conclude on suitability for the determination...
Within this Editorial, we put the articles included in the Special Issue into a historical and actual context of experimental research in Earth system sciences.
Globally, between 0.57 and 1.33Pg of soil organic carbon (SOC) may be affected by interrill processes. Also, a significant amount of phosphorus (P) is contained in the surface soil layer transformed by raindrop impact, runoff and crust formation. In the EU, the P content of a crusted (2mm) surface layer corresponds to 4 to 40kg ha −1 of P on arable land (1.094mil km 2 ). Therefore,...
Sand-filled splash cups were used to study the erosivity of rainfall and throughfall in the humid subtropics of southeast China. Our results showed that the splash cup measurements yielded precise and reproducible results both under open field conditions and under forest vegetation. The splash cups were exposed to forest stands of different age and to selected species (Schima superba, Castanopsis...
Laboratory research in wind tunnels with the capability of simulating rainfall highlighted the importance of considering the complex interactions between wind and rainfall in the analysis of soil erosion processes. In order to overcome the inherent limitations of laboratory research and to further investigate these interactions under comparable conditions in the field, a Portable Wind and Rainfall...
Rainfall simulators are commonly used instruments to study sheet erosion, since they can be set to predefined values like rainfall duration and quantity. The comparison between different irrigation studies is difficult, because general standards or methodological protocols do not exist for rainfall simulators. One goal of this study was to assess the suitability of a novel field hybrid rainfall simulator...
The paper introduces the results of the calibration of the runoff and sediment concentration measurement system adopted at the Masse experimental station recently set up by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to study erosion processes at the plot scale in Central Italy. The collected runoff is stored in cubic tanks equipped with ten taps for sampling the suspension. When an erosive...
Despite many efforts over the last decades to understand rill erosion processes, they remain unclear. This paper presents the results of rill experiments accomplished in Andalusia in September 2008 using a novel experimental set up. 72L of water are introduced with an intensity of 9Lmin −1 into a rill. Rill cross sections, slope values, flow velocities and sediment concentrations were measured...
Obstacles in fluvial environments cause flow separation and the emergence of three-dimensional flow fields that can lead to scour and deposition, even when no general sediment transport at the bed occurs. Resulting forms are commonly denoted as ‘fluvial obstacle marks’. The morphology and dynamics of these forms is depended on obstacle-, flow- and sediment characteristics. As no generally approved...
The specific parameters of soil erosion models as resistance to erosion, hydraulic roughness etc., are usually determined by simulated rainfall experiments. Due to the required plot length of usually 22m, these experiments can only be carried out with an enormous effort of time and manpower. This study presents a runoff feeding device, which is able to multiply the plot length virtually by supplying...
Surface detention and depression storage constitute the two conceptual storages of water at the soil surface and depend on the spatial configuration of the micro-topography. To be able to measure directly those storages and investigate how they evolve with time and precipitation, it is necessary to isolate the impact of the micro-topography from the infiltration. Therefore we developed a fast and...
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