Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Abstract:
The hydraulic response of a tropical loamy sand soil as influenced by land use was studied under laboratory simulated rainfall. Runoff and percolation, which are among hydrological properties of soil, were determined on crusted and non-crusted soils under fallow and cultivated conditions. Soil samples used for investigation were collected from both fallow and cultivated portions of the irrigation farm of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. These soil samples were subjected to simulated rainfall in the laboratory using ELE H13 Basic hydrology equipment. (The ELE H313 basic hydrology basin is a micro-watershed, which can be used to simulate various intensities of rainfall for various hydrological studies in the laboratory situation). Two simulated rainfall events were low intensity (90mm/h) for 60mins and high intensity (300mm/h) for 30 mins. The results showed that the cultivated soil was less stable and more vulnerable to crust formation. It was also discovered from the results that soil surface with crust reduced the rate of water percolation into the soil, thereby increasing the runoff. This showed that land use affects crust formation, which in turn affects the hydraulic response.

Keywords: crust, tropical, cultivated, fallow, simulated, rainfall, aggregate

Download full paper