Rainfall simulation experiments in vineyards comparing two different plot scales

Vineyards are vulnerable to soill loss due to the several inherent factors highly discussed in the literature. A lot of research is being carried out on this topic and hundreds of experiments were conducted around the world in past decades. The use of rainfall simulators is very extensive with prominent results; however, the use of different scales is scarce in exact places but using different plot sizes. Small (1-4 m²) and big plots (>4 m²) can detect the initiation of specific processes such as surface runoff and initial of soill particle detachment. However, mechanisms such as connectivity, sedimentation or linear erosion differ among plot sizes. Also, the size, high water consumption and time-consuming of the big rainfall simulator makes its use something scarce. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to compare the big and small rainfall simulators and the obtained results considering the continuous development of various rainfall simulators on the CTU’s Department of Landscape Water Management (Prague, Czech Republic). The small rainfall simulator with 1x1 m plot and the big one covering two experimental plots of 8x1 m size were used next to each other in a conventional vineyard in the viticultural region of Moravia. The results showed different processes both of them key to understand from a holistic point of view the inititaion of soil erosion processes in vineyards.

This study has been supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Technical University in Prague, grant No. SGS20/156/OHK1/3T/11 and the Project QK1910029.