Soil Erosion

Melissa P. Olalia
Ph.D. Ag.Eng’g
 Introduction to Soil Erosion
Definition :
Soil erosion is the detachment, transport & deposition of soil particle on
land surface. Termed as loss of soil, measured as mass /unit area -
tonne/ha or Kg/sq.

a natural leveling process that wears down high places; fills in low places

Soil loss is of interest primarily on-site effect of erosion such as loss of

crop productivity

Off site effect of erosion are siltation in ditches, streams ,and reservoirs

Sediment generated by erosion processes are prime carrier of

agricultural chemicals that pollutes stream or lakes.
 Types of soil erosion:
• Geological erosion:
 erosion that takes place naturally, without
human influences
 generally the rate is slow enough for net soil
formation and accumulation
 rate varies greatly with rainfall & type of
regolith
 Types of soil erosion:
• Accelerated erosion:
 occurs when humans disturb the soil by a variety
of activities (grazing livestock, plowing hillsides,etc.)

 rate may be 10-1000X as destructive as geol eros’n

 soil is commonly removed at a rate faster than

formation

 may make soils more heterogeneous

 evidence is different colors due to exposed B or C

horizons
 Causes of soil erosion:
• Human Induced and Natural causes:
 Land use : over grazing by cattle, Deforestation, arable land
use, faulty farming, construction, mining

 Climatic Conditions: precipitation and wind velocity

 Soil: soil characteristics, texture, structure, water retention,

and transmission properties.

 may make soils more heterogeneous

 evidence is different colors due to exposed B or C

horizons
Agents of Soil Erosion
Factors Affecting Erosion by Water
1. Climate
 Precipitation
 Temperature
 Wind
 Humidity
 Solar Radiation
 Factors Affecting Erosion by Water
2. Soil
 Soil Structure
 Texture
 Organic Matter
 Water Content
 Clay Mineralogy
 Density or Compactness
 Chemical characteristics
 Biological characteristics

In general, soil detachability increases as the size of the soil particle

increase, and soil transportability increases with decrease in the particle .
 Factors Affecting Erosion by Water
3. Vegetation – serves as soil blanket to protect
it from erosion
Benefits of good vegetation includes:
a. Reduce surface sealing and runoff
b. Retardation of erosion by decreased surface velocity
c. Physical restraint of soil movement
d. Improvement of aggregation and porosity
e. Increased biological activity
f. Increased transpiration
 Factors Affecting Erosion by Water
4. Topography
a. On steep slope, runoff water is more erosive
b. On longer slope, tends to increase rill erosion
c. Concave slopes, less erosive than convex slope
 Factors Affecting Erosion by Water
In Summary:

Soil Erosion is a function of:

Erosivity- depends on rainfall
Erodibility – property of soil
Topography- property of land
Management- contributed by man

Erodibility – Detachability and transportability

Topography – slope, length, relation to other land
Management- Land use and crop management
Climate – prevailing weather condition
 Mechanics of Water Erosion

Detachment

Transport

Deposition
Three Major Types of Soil Erosion
 Types of Erosion
1. Raindrop Erosion- raindrops
accelerate as fall until they
reach speed at which friction
balances gravity
– for large raindrops: 30 km / hr
– transfer kinetic energy to soil:
• detach soil
• destroy structure
• transport soil (as much as E = 0.119 + 0.0873 log10i
0.7m vertically and 2m E- kinetic energy in MJ/ha-mm;
i = intensity of rainfall in mm/h
horizontally)
• Named as rainsplash
erosion
 Types of Erosion
2. Sheet Erosion- Uniform removal of soil in thin layers from
sloping land resulting from overland flow or sheet

- Water flows smoothly in a thin film over surface; detached soil

moves with the water
 Types of Erosion
3.Interrill erosion – the movement of soil by rainsplash
and its transport by thin surface flow whose erosive
capacity is increased by turbulence generated by raindrop
impact. 

 Combination of Splash and sheet erosion

Di = Ki i2 Sf
Where: Di = interrill erosion rate in kg/m2-s
Ki = interrill erodibility of soil in kg-s/m4
I = rainfall intensity in m/s
Sf = slope factor = 1.05 to 0.85 exp (-4sinƟ)
 Types of Erosion
4. Rill erosion – is the detachment and transport of soil by a
concentrated flow of water.
 It is small enough to be removed by normal tillage operations
Dr = Kr(τ -τc) (1 – Qs/Tc)
Where:
Dr = rill detachment rate in kg/m2-s
Kr = rill erodibility resulting from shear in s/m
τc = critical shear below which no erosion occurs in Pa
Qs = rate of sediment flow in the rill in kg/m-s
τ = hydraulic shear of flowing water in Pa= ρgrs
ρ = density of water in kg/m3
g = acceleration due to gravity m/s2
r = hydraulic radius of rill in m
s= hydraulic gradient of rill flow
 Types of Erosion
5. Gully erosion – Advanced form of rill erosion
 Cannot be removed tillage operations
 Water cuts deeper into soil, rills coalesce into
deep troughs
 Gullies may be small- less than 1 m
 Medium – 1 to 5 m
 Large- more than 5 m
 Types of Erosion
6. Stream Channel erosion – the soil removal from stream
banks or soil movements in the channel
 Streambank and bed erosion occurs with an increase in
the volume and velocity of runoff
Universal Soil Loss Equation
 Universal Soil Loss Equation
• Estimation of Soil Loss- Water Erosion
• Universal soil loss equation (USLE)

A = RK L S C P

Where: A-Average annual loss: in ton/ha/year

R-Rainfall & runoff erosivity index for location
K-Soil erodibility factor
L-slope length factor
S – slope steepness factor
C-cover management factor
P-conservation practice factor
 Rainfall and Runoff Erosivity Index (EI)

EI30 = (KEI30)/100
EI-by multiplying kinetic energy of storm to
maximum 30 min. intensity for that storm
KE- kinetic energy of storm
I30- Maximum 30 minutes rainfall intensity of
storm
KE= 210.3 + 89 log I ( ton/ha-cm)
I- rainfall intensity (cm/hr)
 Soil Erodibility Factor K
• Soil erodibility factor K can be found by regression equation
by Foster et.al(1981):

K = 2.8*10-7M1.14 (12-a)+4.3*10-3 (b-2)+3.3*10-3 (c-3)

Where:
M -particle size parameter (% silt+% very fine sand)*(100-%clay)
a -percent organic matter;
b- soil structure code (very fine granular 1, fine granular 2, Medium or
course granular 3,blocks, platy or massive 4)
c-profile permeability class (rapid 1;moderate to rapid 2;moderate 3;slow
to moderate 4;slow 5;very slow 6)
 Slope Steepness Factor (s)

 Slope length shorter than 4m

S = 3.0(sinƟ)0.8 + 0.56

 Slope length longer than 4m and s˂9%

S = 10.8(sinƟ) + 0.03

 Slope length longer than 4m and s ˃ =9%

S = 16.8(sinƟ) - 0.5
 Erosion Control Practices

Growing of alternate strips of different crops in the same field

 Erosion Control Practices

Terracing- A method of shaping land to control erosion on

slopes of rolling land used for cropping and other purposes.
Erosion Control Practices
Erosion Control Practices

MULCHING
 Erosion Control Practices

minimum tillage, zero tillage, stubble mulch tillage.

Erosion Control Practices
Erosion Control Practices
Erosion Control Practices
 Erosion Control Practices

Stabilization Structure
Erosion Control Practices

Stabilization Structure
 Erosion Control Practices

Waterway stabilized with rock and geotextile

 Erosion Control Practices

Stabilization Structure
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