WIND EROSION AND PM10 EMISSIONS FROM AGRICULTURAL FIELDS ON THE COLUMBIA PLATEAU

✍ Scribed by STETLER, LARRY D.; SAXTON, KEITH E.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 895 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0360-1269
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9837(199607)21:7<673::aid-esp664>3.0.co;2-v

✦ Synopsis

Res arch to investigate relations between simultaneous processes of soil erosion by wind and PMlo emissions from dry 1 nd fields on the Columbia Plateau, Washington, has been initiated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture -Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Washington State University. Dry land agriculture is the primary cropping system worldwide but is constantly threatened by erosive winds which reduce the soil resource and/or remove fines which are the most active soil portion for plant production. Soils on the Columbia Plateau are very fine-grained containing more than 4 per cent of freely occurring aggregates or particles less than 10 pm aerodynamic diameter. Analysis from eight wind events show that significant relations exist between total mass of soil in both horizontal (saltation) and vertical (suspension) transport. The data suggest that by limiting horizontal soil erosion, emitted dust can be simultaneously reduced. Aggressive conservation tillage can be an effective weapon in reducing soil erosion by maintaining surface residue and roughness.