Project Number: 5430-11120-008-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Sep 01, 2007
End Date: Oct 31, 2010

Objective:
1) Improve Wind Erosion Prediction system (WEPS) for cropland and extend it to range, forest, and disturbed lands; 2) increase understanding of particulate emissions from wind erosion processes; 3) couple WEPS with appropriate databases to inventory dust emissions including PM-10; and 4) develop new and evaluate viable practices for reducing dust emissions from wind erosion and incorporate findings into WEPS.

Approach:
1. Modify WEPS to handle more complex sites, consisting of multiple soil types with undulating terrain by: a) partitioning the simulation region into homogeneous sections based upon soil characteristics and b) computing localized wind speed adjustment factors based upon elevation differences within the simulation region. 2. Conduct basic research to determine: a) the threshold friction velocity on dry/wet, bare soils as a function of surface roughness, aggregate size distribution, aggregate density and soil wetness; b) near field deposition rates/patterns of suspended particles; c) surface friction velocity as influenced by vertical and horizontal distribution of biomass; and d) soil aggregate status as influenced by weather, intrinsic soil properties, land use, and animal/vehicular traffic. 3. Redesign the user interface to allow the user to: a) select counties or larger areas of interest for simulation; b) automate both the selection and data input from databases on land use within the selected area and output these results to a database; d) query both the input and output databases to answer questions about the land use, management, and weather that were associated with various levels of erosion and dust emissions; and, e) allow the user to easily edit and update databases. 4. Experimentally determine best management practices (BMPs) to reduce the rate of roughness degradation and maintenance of the crop residue¿s ability to reduce wind erosion and evaluate products to reduce dust emissions.