Rainfall, runoff and erosion on bare arable soils in east Shropshire, England

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Abstract
The magnitude, frequency, and duration of erosive rainfall on bare arable soils is investigated within an area of sandy soils in east Shropshire. Rainfall parameters are compared with runoff and erosion from ten 25 m2 runoff plots, maintained in a bare condition on slopes of varying steepness.On rain‐drop compacted (capped) soils measured erosion rates of ≦ 42.7t ha−1 occur during individual storms. Erosion rates increase markedly with slope and on slopes > ˜ 13° are largely attributable to rill erosion.Prolonged duration, low intensity events cause relatively little erosion; most is accomplished by short duration, high intensity (> 10 mm h−1) convective rainstorms. Comparison of measured erosion‐producing events and long‐term rainfall records indicate that potentially erosive storms are quite frequent, and are most likely to cause erosion in late spring/early summer.

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