Transformation of Rainfall by Plant Canopy (Erosion)
Armstrong, Clinton Lee
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/70960
Description
Title
Transformation of Rainfall by Plant Canopy (Erosion)
Author(s)
Armstrong, Clinton Lee
Issue Date
1987
Department of Study
Agricultural Engineering
Discipline
Agricultural Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Engineering, Agricultural
Abstract
Soil erosion by water is influenced by plant cover over the soil. Rainfall characteristics which are transformed as a result of interception by plant canopy and which are important factors in models of splash detachment are drop size, drop velocity and rainfall intensity. The influence of plant canopy on drop size and on spatial redistribution of rainfall is investigated.
Transformation of rainfall intensity and drop size is analyzed dimensionally. Rainfall drop size is related to rainfall intensity and canopy characteristics. Spatial redistribution of rainfall in one dimension was measured under corn and soybean canopies. Simple models expressing these transformations are proposed. Rainfall drop size and intensity as functions of two dimensional space are described before and after interception. Results of laboratory and field measurements are analyzed and presented as distribution functions of rainfall characteristics in space. Drop size spectra and spatial distribution functions are presented for simulated and natural rainfall transformed by four plant species.
Implications for splash detachment are explored by calculating new erodibility values for rainfall intensity, energy and momentum. These values are used in models in the literature to estimate splash detachment and the results are compared to measured values in the literature.
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