Usability of Water-Sensitive Papers (WSPs) for Assessing Splash Erosion

Splash erosion, the first step in water erosion process, occurs because of raindrops collusion with soil aggregates and pushing soil particulates into the air. The objective of this study was to test the usability of water sensitive paper (WSPs) in assessment of splash erosion. Soil losses from three texturally different soils by splash erosion were determined under artificial rainfall conditions as a function of splash distance and direction. The results indicated that the amount of soil removed by splash erosion was significantly affected by soil texture, splash direction and distance, and was the highest in clay soil and the lowest in sandy loamy soil. About half of the splashed soil material moved down slope, 34% in the lateral direction, and 17% moved upslope. A significant positive correlation between the WSPs-D10 diameter and the WSPs-surface coverage rate was obtained, which indicates that the higher the D10 diameter, the higher the surface coverage rate. The results obtained in this study reveal that the WSPs cards could successfully be used and its parameters (WSPs-D10 diameter and WSPs-surface coverage rate) might be considered as a new approach in assessing and evaluating splash erosion.