Laboratory experiments on the influence of storm direction on soil loss from sloping areas

The soil material transported by overland flow is important in such activities as agricultural soil management, evaluation of soil nutrient losses, and sediment transport to water reservoirs. This paper reports the results of laboratory experiments, which were undertaken to study the effect of storm direction on the water erosion process. The experiments were carried out using a soil flume adjustable to different slopes and a rainfall simulator. To simulate moving rainstorms, the rainfall simulator was moved upstream and downstream over the soil surface. The results show that the storm direction affects the soil loss. The soil loss due to downstream moving rainstorms is higher than that due to identical upstream moving rainfall storms.