Evaluating Erosion Risk on Agricultural Soils with the Modified Mini-JET Device

The Jet Erosion Test (JET) is a method for determining the erodibility of incohesive agricultural soils by measuring the critical shear stress. The measurements were performed using a modified Mini-JET device, which is well-suited for field measurements as it is small, light, requires a relatively small amount of water, and can be operated by a single person. The Mini-JET device uses a water jet with a known kinetic energy to create an erosion crater in the soil, and then measures the rate at which the crater forms to determine the soil's erodibility and the critical shear stress. These parameters are needed for estimating the susceptibility of the soil to water erosion, and can help in the design of erosion control measures. The Mini-JET experiments were conducted on experimental plots in Risuty, central Czechia. Two soil with different properties were tested. In parallel with the experiments, a number of soil properties were monitored, including bulk density, soil texture, soil water content, aggregate stability, and total organic carbon. A total of 75 simulations were carried out as part of this study. The results of the Mini-JET experiments showed a large temporal and spatial variability in the soil erosion parameters. Despite this variability, the absolute values of the determined erodibility coefficients were comparable to those reported in previous studies. This indicates that the Mini-JET method is suitable for studying the erodibility of agricultural soils, although a sufficient number of replicates must be carried out to obtain representative values. The information obtained with the Mini-JET method can be used in physically based soil erosion models, which are used to predict the erosion of soil and the effectiveness of erosion control measures.  

Research has been supported by project TUDI (European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101000224) and LTA-USA 19019 (Ministry of Education of the Czech Rep.).