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Interrill erodibility can be affected by soil aggregates, especially by those aggregate size classes that are dominant in the soil. In the Water erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model, interrill soil erodibility (K i ) is estimated using very fine sand content. Despite that some studies have indicated an effect of aggregate stability on the K i , information on the relationship between the aggregate size class and K i and factors controlling it, particularly in semi-arid region is limited. This study was conducted to determine the variation of K i for different aggregate size classes under various rainfall intensities and evaluation of the WEPP model in estimating the K i for different aggregate fractions. Five aggregate size classes (0.25–2, 2–4.75, 4.75–5.6, 5.6–9.75 mm, and 9.75–12.7 mm) were separated from a sandy clay loam soil sampled in an agricultural land and put in laboratory flumes of 100 cm × 50 cm. The flumes were placed on a 9% slope and exposed to ten sequential rainfall simulations varying from 10 to 60 mm h −1 for 30 min. The K i of each aggregate size classes was determined using the interrill sediment delivery rate and compared this with the values estimated using WEPP. All physicochemical properties were also determined in the aggregate size classes. Organic matter content in the aggregate size classes was very low (0.65–0.73%) and didn't show strong relationships with the aggregate stability and hydraulic conductivity, whereas clay was major factor controlling determining these properties for the different aggregate fractions. Significant differences were found among the aggregate size classes in clay content ( P  < 0.05), aggregate stability measured using both wet-sieving method ( P  < 0.05) and water drop test method P  < 0.05, saturated hydraulic conductivity (K s ), and measured K i ( P  < 0.05). The measured K i was about 34 and 90 times bigger than the estimated K i for the fine aggregates and coarse aggregates, respectively. The fine aggregates showed higher susceptibility to interrill detachment with increasing rainfall intensity as compared with the coarse aggregates. Significant decrease was observed in the measured K i with increasing the aggregate size which was associated with increases in clay content, aggregate stability and K s . The stability of aggregates against raindrop impact (CND) was an important indicator describing the effect of aggregate size on the interrill erodibility in semi-arid soils. Therefore, this indicator can be taken into account as a soil structure measure to develop a proper equation for estimating interrill erodibility (K i ) for agricultural lands. The minimum use of tillage practices is essential to prevent aggregate breakdown and control interrill erosion in semi-arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Check dams can be used as a source of information for studies on sediment characteristics and soil particle erodibility. In this study, sediment yield and grain size distribution (GSD) were measured in twenty small catchments draining into a rock check dam in NW Iran for different runoffs during 2010–2011. Significant correlations were found between sediment yield and slope steepness, vegetation cover and soil erodibility factor (K) of the catchments. The erodibility of soil particles was determined using the comparison of GSD between sediment and original soil. Clay was the most erodible soil particle which showed 2.05 times more percentage in sediment than the original soil. The erodibility of soil particles were strongly affected by the rainfall erosivity (EI 30 ). Check dams showed more effectiveness in trapping coarse particles (sand and gravel). The effectiveness of check dams in trapping coarse particles enhanced with increase in the remaining capacity of check dams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a strong need to develop a simple method for rapid estimation of erodibility using readily available data. In this study, soil erodibility was measured using eleven soil textures at the plot scale (60 cm × 80 cm) on a slope of 9% in a semi-arid region. A total of 110 soil erosion experiments were conducted using ten simulated rainfalls (50 mm h − 1 for 30 min). A regression model was developed based on silt and clay content (R 2 = 0.82, p < 0.001) and was applied to estimate erodibility for 231 soils in the textural triangle. Kriging was used to spatial interpolate erodibility using these data to unknown soils on the textural triangle. A soil erodibility triangle was developed using kriging technique and its accuracy was evaluated using seven other soils. The technique showed a 5.4% error and allowed the prediction of soil erodibility in semi-arid areas by using the soil erodibility triangle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]