A wind erosion prediction system to meet user needs

WIND erosion is a serious problem in many parts of the world, and extensive aeolian deposits from past geologic eras give evidence that it is not merely a recent phenomenon. However, human impact on global desertification is an issue of current international concern ( 21 ). Arid or semiarid land now comprises about one-third of the world's total land area, and this land is home to about one-sixth of the world's population ( 8, 13 ). Development of adequate prediction technology for wind erosion is important to provide producers with guidance in the use of potentially erodible land. In the United States the primary technology currently used for predicting wind erosion is based on variations of the wind erosion equation (WEQ) ( 23, 26 ). This prediction system represents integrations over large fields with unchanging surface conditions and long-time scales to produce average annual estimates of soil loss. To account for seasonal variations in field surfaces, a procedure using repeated solutions of the WEQ to compute soil loss by periods was introduced (4) , and further modifications of the WEQ computation procedure were developed to allow soil loss estimates to be simulated on a daily basis in the EPIC model …