Using polyacrylamide to control soil splash erosion in rainfalls with variable intensity and duration

Abstract

Splash erosion is recognized as the first stage in soil erosion process and results from the bombing of the soil surface by rain drops. One of the soil erosion control methods is the use of chemical polymers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different rates of polyacrylamide - PAM (0, 2, 4 and 6 kg/ha) - on the rate of splash erosion at three rainfall intensities (60, 90 and 120 mm/h) and three rainfall durations (10, 20 and 30 minutes) in laboratory conditions using a FEL3 rainfall simulator and Morgan splash bowls on a marly soil with loam soil texture. In all three intensities, rainfall duration and PAM treatments, the reductions of erosion were significant at 99% level, while their interaction was not statistically significant. The results indicated that 2 kg/ha of PAM did not show any significant difference in splash erosion reduction for all the intensities and durations. Increasing the rate of PAM from 4 kg/ha to 6 kg/ha helped to reduce the splash erosion rate; however, there was not a significant difference between the rates of 4 and 6 kg/ha of PAM in the intensity of 90 and 120 mm/h. Most splash erosion reduction (54%) was obtained for the intensity of 60 mm/h and the duration of 10 min with 6 kg/ha of PAM.