An experimental study on the influences of wind erosion on water erosion

In semi-arid regions, complex erosion resulted from a combination of wind and water actions has led to a massive soil loss and a comprehensive understanding of its mechanism is the first step toward prevention of the erosion. However, the mutual influences between wind erosion and water erosion have not been fully understood. This research used a wind tunnel and two rainfall simulators and simulated two rounds of alternations between wind erosion and water erosion（i.e., 1^（st） wind erosion–1^（st） water erosion and 2^（nd） wind erosion–2^（nd） water erosion） on three slopes（5°, 10°, and 15°） with six wind speeds（0, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 20 m/s） and five rainfall intensities（0, 30, 45, 60, and 75 mm/h）. The objective was to analyze the influences of wind erosion on succeeding water erosion. Results showed that the effects of wind erosion on water erosion were not the same in the two rounds of tests. In the 1^（st） round of tests, wind erosion first restrained and then intensified water erosion mostly because the blocking effect of wind-sculpted micro-topography on surface flow was weakened with the increase in slope. In the 2^（nd） round of tests, wind erosion intensified water erosion on beds with no rills at gentle slopes and low rainfall intensities or with large-size rills at steep slopes and high rainfall intensities. Wind erosion restrained water erosion on beds with small rills at moderate slopes and moderate rainfall intensities. The effects were mainly related to the fine grain layer, rills and slope of the original bed in the 2^（nd） round of tests. The findings can deepen our understanding of complex erosion resulted from a combination of wind and water actions and provide scientific references to regional soil and water conservation.

Evapotranspiration and ratio of soil evaporation to evapotranspiration of winter wheat and maize in north China

Evapotranspiration （ETc） is an important quantity for hydrological cycle. This study shows evapotranspiration, the ratio of evaporation to evapotranspiration （E/ETc） of winter wheat and maize in north China. Several relationships, namely, E/ET0 and soil surface moisture, E/ET0 and leaf area index （LAI）, are also analyzed. The average seasonal ETc values for winter wheat, maize （2008） and maize （2009） are 431.21,456.3 and 341.4mm. The value of E/ET0 varied from 1 at initial growth stage to 0.295 at the later growth for winter wheat, and from 1 to 0.492, from 1 to 0.566 for maize （2008） and maize （2009）. The relationship between E/ET0 and surface soil water content, and E/ET0 and LAI are fitted to a quadratic parabola equation with significant correlation coefficients, respectively, for wheat and maize. These results should help the precise planning and efficient management of irrigation for these crops in this region.

Variations in soil moisture over the ‘Huang-Huai-Hai Plain＇ in China due to temperature change using the CNOP-P method and outputs from CMIP5

In this study, the variations in surface soil liquid water(SSLW) due to future climate change are explored in the‘Huang-Huai-Hai Plain'(‘3H') region in China with the Common Land Model(CoLM). To evaluate the possible maximum response of SSLW to climate change, the combination of the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation related to the parameter(CNOP-P) approach and projections from 10 general circulation models(GCMs) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project5(CMIP5) are used. The CNOP-P-type temperature change scenario, a new type of temperature change scenario, is determined by using the CNOP-P method and constrained by the temperature change projections from the 10 GCMs under a high-emission scenario(the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario). Numerical results have shown that the response of SSLW to the CNOP-P-type temperature scenario is stronger than those to the 11 temperature scenarios derived from the 10 GCMs and from their ensemble average in the entire ‘3H' region. In the northern region, SSLW under the CNOP-P-type scenario increases to0.1773 m^3 m^(-3); however, SSLW in the scenarios from the GCMs fluctuates from 0.1671 to 0.1748 m^3 m^(-3). In the southern region,SSLW decreases, and its variation(–0.0070 m^3 m^(-3)) due to the CNOP-P-type scenario is higher than each of the variations(–0.0051 to –0.0026 m^3 m^(-3)) due to the scenarios from the GCMs.