Objective DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A PROCEDURE FOR PREDICTING RATES OF SOIL EROSION WHICH CAN BE USED AS A DESIGN TOOL FOR SOIL PROTECTION IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY. THE PROJECT IS INTENDED TO RECTIFY THE LACK OF SATISFACTORY TECHNIQUES FOR EVALUATING HOW MUCH OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IS AT RISK OF OR ALREADY AFFECTED BY SERIOUS EROSION AND FOR DESIGNING SUITABLE SOIL PROTECTION MEASURES. A MODEL WILL BE DEVELOPED FROM A FRAMEWORK ALREADY PROPOSED BY G CHISCI AND RPC MORGAN BY COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE COOPERATING INSTITUTIONS TO SELECT SUITABLE EQUATIONS FOR DESCRIBING MATHEMATICALLY THE PROCESSES OF SOIL DETACHMENT, RUNOFF GENERATION AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT. A FLOW CHART FOR THE MODEL HAS ALREADY BEEN AGREED AT A MEETING OF THE SCIENTISTS INVOLVED IN BRAUNSCHWEIG, FEBRUARY 1987. PARTICULAR ATTENTION WILL BE GIVEN TO THE USE OF SOIL COHESION AS AN EXPRESSION OF SOIL RESISTANCE TO EROSION, SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION AS IT AFFECTS TRANSPORT CAPACITY OF RUNOFF AND INITIATION OF RILLS, AND INCORPORATION OF THE EFFECTS OF VEGETATION COVER. COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF THE MODEL WILL THEN BE RUN TO TEST THAT IT GIVES PLAUSIBLE RESULTS UNDER AVERAGE AND EXTREME CONDITIONS. A SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS WILL BE CARRIED OU TO DETERMINE THE LEVELS OF ACCURACY NEEDED IN THE VALUES OF THE INPUT PARAMETERS. DATA FOR MODEL VALIDATION WILL BE OBTAINED FROM FIELD EROSION PLOTS ESPECIALLY ESTABLISHED FOR THIS PURPOSE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IN SPAIN. FOLLOWING VALIDATION WITH THE PURPOSELY-OBTAINED DATA SET, THE MODEL WILL BE TESTED OVER A WIDER RANGE OF EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTS THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH THE COOPERATING INSTITUTIONS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION FOR A SERIES OF CASE STUDIES FOR CULTIVATION OF HILLY LAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, ARABLE FARMING ON THE LOAMY SOILS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE, AND HILL FARMING IN NORTH WEST EUROPE. THROUGH THESE EXAMPLES THE VALUE OF THE MODEL AS AN ASSESSMENT AND DESIGN TOOL WILL BE DEMONSTRATED. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologysedimentologynatural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model Programme(s) FP1-ENVPROT 4C - Multiannual research and development programmes (EEC) in the field of the environment - Protection of the environment -, 1986-1990 Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY Address Silsoe campus MK45 4DT Silsoe,bedford United Kingdom See on map EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS Spain EU contribution € 0,00 Address Calle serrano 117 Madrid See on map Links Website Opens in new window KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN Belgium EU contribution € 0,00 Address Oude markt 13 3000 Louvain / leuven See on map
