Estimation of Rainfall Induced Soil Erosion An Experimental Study

Soil erosion is a serious global problem with significant financial and environmental consequences and more studies are needed to understand the physical mechanism of erosion and also to quantify erosion rates. Rainfall induced soil erosion is a two-phase process consisting of the detachment of individual soil grains from soil mass and their transport by running water. Although several methods are available for estimating rainfall induced soil erosion, the applicability of most of these methods are very limited. This paper presents a detailed study carried out using a laboratory set-up consisting of an artificial rainfall simulator to quantify rainfall induced soil erosion. Based on a series of laboratory experiments carried out with different soils and rainfall intensities, two functional relationships were developed to quantify erosion rates on sandy soils and clayey soils separately. These equations were able to predict erosion rates to a reasonable accuracy and also easy to use in actual situations. However, further tests are recommended with more soil samples and widening the range of other test parameters to verify the equations and to make it applicable over a wide range of actual situations.