Wind Erosion: Prediction of Aggregate Abrasion Coefficients

Among the major factors controlling wind erodibility of soils are the abrasion coefficients of the soil crust and aggregates. Here, the abrasion coefficient is defined as the abraded soil loss per unit area for each unit mass of abrader passing a unit across-wind width and has units (1/m). However, measuring abrasion coefficients directly in the field is not convenient. So, in field plot studies, energy to crush aggregates (CE) has been measured and related to intrinsic soil properties. In this study, wind tunnel tests were used to develop a prediction equation for aggregate abrasion coefficients as a function of Ln(CE) of aggregates and crusts.