Effect of Soil Surface Sealing on Splash from a Single Waterdrop

Most soil erosion prediction models do not account for surface sealing and soil crusting effects on soil detachment. The objective of this research was to evaluate surface seal formation and subsequent drying effects on amount of soil detached by single waterdrop impact. Twenty soils ranging in texture from sand to clay were tested. Single drop splash and fall‐cone strength determinations were made on each soil in an uncrusted condition, in a crusted condition immediately following 1 h of simulated rainfall (63 mm/h), and after 2 to 4 weeks of drying. Splash for the uncrusted condition ranged from 8.9 to 61.0 mg/drop and from 0.8 to 13.7 mg/drop for the crusted condition. Subjecting crusted soils to one drying cycle did not significantly alter splash amount. Splash was correlated with soil strength for both uncrusted and crusted conditions for finertextured soils; however, for sands and sandy loams additional research is required for soil strength‐based splash model for crusted conditions.