A study on the wind erosion potential of agricultural lands after crop harvesting (Case study: Damghan Region)

Authors

1 International Research Center for Living with Desert, University of Tehran, Iran

2 Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

3 RS & GIS Dept., Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

4 Natural Geography Dept., Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Aeolian process and subsequently soil erosion are key factors in dryland environments. Such phenomena are related not only to geoecological factors (lithology, topography, and climatology) but also to land-use and plant cover changes. Formation of new sand dunes in Damghan explains the development of human activities over the past. The aim of this study is to explain the land use changes and their contributions and impacts on Aeolian sediments in Damghan Region. The study was carried out using topographic and geologic maps, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, meteorological data, field observation and samplings. According to meteorological data, period of strong winds (May to Jun) were identified. This period is wind activity period. So, based on this period, unprotected soil surface by crop residues with the interpretation of satellite images was determined. The field samples were carried out from May to June 2008 when the wind was active. The study methods include sieving soil granulometry, and analyzing the particle size. Granulometric analyses were performed using conventional dry sieve method. The results of statistical analysis of grain size distribution showed that the mean and median of particle size were composed of coarse and very coarse sand particles. The study indicated that 90% of the agricultural lands contained more than 23% soil aggregates, where in areas with sensitive particles to erosion the Figure was 35%.  It can be argued that agricultural land in study area are resistant to wind erosion.

Keywords

References

Anderson, J.R., 2004. Sieve analysis lab exercise. University of Georgia.
Asensio, C., F.J. Lozano, E. Ortega, Z. Kikvidze, 2015. Study on the effectiveness of an agricultural Technique based on Aeolian deposition, in a semiarid environment, Environ. Eng. Manag, 14; 1143–1150.
Barring, L., P. Jonsson, J. Mattsson, R. Ahman, 2003. Wind erosion on arable land in Scania, Sweden and the relation to the wind climate- a review. Catena, 52; 173–190.
Barth, H.K., 1986. Wind Erosion in the Interior Delta of the Niger in Mali. In: Farouk El-Baz, M. H. A. Hassan, editors. Physics of desertification. Springer Netherlands. PP; 274-289.
Blott, S.J., K. Pye, 2001. Gradistat: A grain size distribution and statistic package for the analysis of unconsolidated sediment. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 26; 1237–1248.
Cerdà, A., J. Hooke, A. Romero-Diaz, L. Montanarella, H. Lavee, 2010. Soil erosion on Mediterranean type ecosystems. Land Degrad, 21; 71–74.
Dadfar, S., M.R. Ekhtesasi, R. Shah Bandar, F. Kamrani, 2011. Analysis of the dust storm with wind rose and storm rose (Case study: Qazvin province). In: 7th Conference on watershed management Science and Engineering of Iran. Isfahan University.
Folk, R.L., W.C. Ward, 1957. Brazos river bar: a study of the significance of grain size parameters. Journal of sedimentary petrology, 27; 3-26.
Hanifehpour, M., 2013. The impact of agricultural periodic activities on wind erosion (Case study: Damghan area). M.Sc. thesis, Desert Region Management Dept., International Desert Research Center (IDRC), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Houyou, Z., C. L. Bielders, H. A. Benhorma, A. Dellal, A. Boutemdjet, 2011. Evidence of strong land degradation by wind erosion as a result of rainfed cropping in the algerian steppe: A case study at laghouat. Land Degrad. doi:10.1002/ldr.2295. Islamic Republic of Iran Meteorological Organization.
Lancaster, N., 2009. Aeolian features and processes. The Geological Society of America, pp.1-25.
Leenders, J. K., G. Sterk, J. H. Van Boxe, 2011. Modelling windblown sediment transport around single vegetation elements. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 36; 1218–1229.
Lozano, F. J., M. Soriano, S. Martínez, C. Asensio, 2013. The influence of blowing soil trapped by shrubs on fertility in Tabernas district (SE Spain). Land Degrad, 24; 575–581.
Mashhadi, N., H. Ahmadi, 2010, Sand sources determination based on granulometry of surface soils or sediment. Range and Desert Research, 17; 517- 499.
Mashhadi, N., 2013. Effect of changing land use of sand sources on wind erosion (case study: Damghan erg).   International Desert Research Center (IDRC). Report number, 7402003-1-11, 20 p.
National Cartographic Center, topographic maps of 1: 50,000.
Refahi. H., 2009. Wind erosion and conservation. 8th ed., University of Tehran Press, Tehran.
He, Q., X. Yang, A. Mamtimin, S. Tang, 2011. Impact factors of soil wind erosion in the center of Taklimakan Desert. Journal of arid land, 3; 9-14.
Touré, A. A., J. L. RajotGarba, Z. B. Marticorena, C. Petit, D. Sebag, 2011. Impact of very low crop residues cover on wind erosion in the Sahel. Catena, 85; 205-214.
Shao, Y., H. Lu, 2000. A simple expression for wind erosion threshold friction velocity. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 105; 22437-22443.
Shao, Y., 2001. A model for mineral dust emission. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 106; 20239 −20254.
Zaady, E. A., D. Dody, D. Weiner, Z.Y. Barkai, 2009. A comprehensive method for aeolian particle granulometry and micromorphology analyses. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 155; 169-175.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics