Foreword by Guangqian Wang
Soil erosion is one of the major environmental problems facing the world which is
reducing cultivated land areas, decreasing land productivity, increasing riverbed,
and causing reservoir sedimentation. The Loess Plateau, where the case studies of
this book take place, is among the most severely and adversely affected regions by
soil erosion in the world. The study and control of soil erosion would deliver
enormous environmental, social and economic benefits to the society.
The book provides a comprehensive overview of the theories and principles for
soil conservation experiments. It also proposes a systematic and rigorous methodology for quantitatively observing and measuring erosion processes, including more
than ten patented devices and technology invented by the authors of the book. For
example, the easily assembled mobile laboratory makes it convenient to perform
rainfall erosion experiments in the field; the patented Topography Meter enables to
detect the dynamic changes of slope surface terrains during a rainfall experiment and
thereby to calculate the volume of gully erosion and gravity erosion.
The most significant contribution of this book is the experimental studies on
gravity erosion. Gravity erosion, e.g., landslide, avalanche, and mudslide, is typically investigated in the field after its occurrence, due to the difficulty and uncertainty in predicting the timing, frequency, magnitude, and specific location of its
abrupt occurrence. There is a scarcity of gravity erosion process data. The conditions of a slope failure, e.g., soil moisture and shear strength, surveyed after its
occurrence may be significantly different from those prior to and during its
occurrence. It is difficult to know how much sediment produced by slope failures is
transported during the current rainfall and how long it will take to transport the
remaining debris in the subsequent rainfalls. The answers to those questions are of
critical importance in assessing the contribution of gravity erosion to the sediment
yield within a watershed. In order to address those important questions, numerous
exploratory experiments have been conducted on the steep slopes both in the
v
Soil erosion is one of the major environmental problems facing the world which is
reducing cultivated land areas, decreasing land productivity, increasing riverbed,
and causing reservoir sedimentation. The Loess Plateau, where the case studies of
this book take place, is among the most severely and adversely affected regions by
soil erosion in the world. The study and control of soil erosion would deliver
enormous environmental, social and economic benefits to the society.
The book provides a comprehensive overview of the theories and principles for
soil conservation experiments. It also proposes a systematic and rigorous methodology for quantitatively observing and measuring erosion processes, including more
than ten patented devices and technology invented by the authors of the book. For
example, the easily assembled mobile laboratory makes it convenient to perform
rainfall erosion experiments in the field; the patented Topography Meter enables to
detect the dynamic changes of slope surface terrains during a rainfall experiment and
thereby to calculate the volume of gully erosion and gravity erosion.
The most significant contribution of this book is the experimental studies on
gravity erosion. Gravity erosion, e.g., landslide, avalanche, and mudslide, is typically investigated in the field after its occurrence, due to the difficulty and uncertainty in predicting the timing, frequency, magnitude, and specific location of its
abrupt occurrence. There is a scarcity of gravity erosion process data. The conditions of a slope failure, e.g., soil moisture and shear strength, surveyed after its
occurrence may be significantly different from those prior to and during its
occurrence. It is difficult to know how much sediment produced by slope failures is
transported during the current rainfall and how long it will take to transport the
remaining debris in the subsequent rainfalls. The answers to those questions are of
critical importance in assessing the contribution of gravity erosion to the sediment
yield within a watershed. In order to address those important questions, numerous
exploratory experiments have been conducted on the steep slopes both in the
v