Effect of soil moisture content on the splash phenomenon reproducibility

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 18;10(3):e0119269. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119269. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

One of the methods for testing splash (the first phase of water erosion) may be an analysis of photos taken using so-called high-speed cameras. The aim of this study was to determine the reproducibility of measurements using a single drop splash of simulated precipitation. The height from which the drops fell resulted in a splash of 1.5 m. Tests were carried out using two types of soil: Eutric Cambisol (loamy silt) and Orthic Luvisol (sandy loam); three initial pressure heads were applied equal to 16 kPa, 3.1 kPa, and 0.1 kPa. Images for one, five, and 10 drops were recorded at a rate of 2000 frames per second. It was found that (i) the dispersion of soil caused by the striking of the 1st drop was significantly different from the splash impact caused by subsequent drops; (ii) with every drop, the splash phenomenon proceeded more reproducibly, that is, the number of particles of soil and/or water that splashed were increasingly close to each other; (iii) the number of particles that were detached during the splash were strongly correlated with its surface area; and (iv) the higher the water film was on the surface the smaller the width of the crown was.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Mechanical Phenomena
  • Rain*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Soil / chemistry*
  • Water*

Substances

  • Soil
  • Water

Grants and funding

The study was partially funded by the budget for science within the framework of Project No. IP2011 047471 (2011-2014), by the National Centre for Science within the framework of Project No. N N310777640 (2011-2014) and from the National Science Centre (Poland), based on decision no. DEC-2012/07/N/ST10/03280 (2013-2015). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.