Erosion Processes Due to Sprinkler Irrigation
The study and analyses of erosion have shown that the main factors determining erosion processes under equal soil and climatic conditions are the intensity and structure of artificial rain and the ground slope. The main factor, artificial rain intensity, depends mainly on the soil infiltration ra...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Bulgarian Soil Science Society
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.bsss.bg/issues/Issue1_2021/BJSS_2021_1_6.pdf |
| Summary: | The study and analyses of erosion have shown that the main factors determining
erosion processes under equal soil and climatic conditions are the intensity and structure of
artificial rain and the ground slope. The main factor, artificial rain intensity, depends mainly
on the soil infiltration rate. In sprinkle irrigation, the soil infiltration is preceded by interaction
between the soil and the rainfall drops. Failure to observe this interaction has often caused
irrigation erosion problems due to the impact drops on the soil. It has been proved that the
bigger are rainfall drops and their intensity, the bigger are the damages to soil structure. The
most important factors on which depends the degree of erosion are erosion resistance and slope
of the soil surface. Bulgarian soils are classified in a seven-degree scale, based on Qcritical -
erosion-safety discharge.
This paper deals with the feasibility to choose irrigation equipment suitable for
agricultural crops and having appropriate characteristics of the irrigation sprinklers in
dependence of soil resistance and land slope. Both analytical and experimental approaches
have been used in solving the problem.
Nomograms, aiming at determining the required parameters of irrigation equipment
in order to prevent soil erosion, are presented. They are created on the base of
experimental approaches for sprinkler equipment characteristics. The intensity and structure
of the artificial rain in relation to the nozzle and the working pressure head of the sprinklers,
on one side, and the soil erosion stability in relation to the difference in the land slope and
rain intensity, on the other, have been studied.
The analysis of nomograms allows following conclusions about the application of
three classes irrigation equipment in the erosive-safe area of land with high slope:
High pressure sprinklers set with the appropriate blendes are to be applied to terrains of
soils with medium to high degree of erosion resistance regardless of the slope. In the set
with nozzles the field of application is the same as by 2-3 degree of erosion resistance, but
the limit of the slope is 7 %.
The erosion-safe area of medium pressure sprinklers application is wider as they can be
used in soils of low erosion resistance (1-2 and 2) by limiting the slope to 3-5 %. For soils
with moderate resistance (2-3) the slope limit is 3-7 %, and for soils with high resistance
(above 3), the sprinklers are applicable on steep slopes. |
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| ISSN: | 2534-8787 2367-9212 |