Erodible fraction content change in long term wind erosion duration

Abstract Soil erosion by wind is the primary land degradation process which affects natural environments and agricultural lands. In agricultural lands, soil erosion by wind mainly results from removing of the finest and most biologically active part of the soil richest in organic matter and nutrients. Repeated exposure to wind erosion can have permanent effects on agricultural soil degradation. Knowing spatial and temporal changes in soil conditions and soil erodibility is essential to understand wind erosion processes. There are many methodologies to predict the susceptibility of landscape to erosion. The more complex is the scheme combining multiple factors, the more accurate the estimate is. There are very few studies on mapping the changes in soil grain size and erodible fraction due to wind erosion. Existing studies only deal with eroded soil units (where particles are removed – deflation) and not the eroded units (areas) to which the eroded particles are wound – accumulated. Prevailing wind direction should also be taken into account when mapping changes in erodible fractions of wind-eroded soils and the nature of the soil (whether soil particles accumulate or deflate). In this study the “historical“ grain size distribution of the soil in three cadastral areas using data from complex soil survey (1968) and year 2018/2019 was analysed. Erodible fraction change was also calculated and compared for both time periods.