ABSTRACT:
A means to evaluate the effects of combination subsurface/surface drainage systems on erosion was developed by coupling the drainage simulation model, DRAINMOD, with the CREAMS model for simulating erosion. Use of the coupled model was demonstrated in an analysis of the effects of artificial drainage on erosion for Goldsboro sandy loam soil in eastern North Carolina. The simulation showed that erosion on Goldsboro soil with an average slope of 2 percent could be reduced appreciably with subsurface drainage. For example, predicted average annual rates of erosion declined by a factor of 10, from 9 to 0.9 metric tons per hectare (4 to 0.4 tons per acre) by changing the drainage system from one with good surface drainage and poor subsurface drainage to one with poor surface drainage and good subsurface drainage. Subsurface drainage, therefore, should be considered as a possible best management practice for reducing erosion on relatively flat land.
Footnotes
R. W. Skaggs is a professor and A. Nassehzadeh-Tabrizi is a research associate. Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. North Carolina State University. Raleigh. 27650. C. R. Foster is a hydraulic engineer with the Agricultural Research Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture and Purdue University. West Lafayette. Indiana 47907. Paper No. 8212, Journal Series, North Carolina Agricultural Research Service. Raleigh. Contribution from the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service and ARS. USDA. The research on which this paper is based was supported in part by ARS. USDA, under a cooperative agreement between the Coastal Plains Research Center and the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service. Use of trade names herein does not imply endorsement by the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service or ARS. USDA. of the products named, nor criticism of similar ones not mentioned.
- Copyright 1982 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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