Splash erosion measurement and its relationship to rainfall Intensity in Kordestan province

The raindrops cause dispersion of soil particles when they hit the ground and accelerate the process of water erosion. The intensity and amount of soil dispersion depends on kinetic energy which, in turn, is influenced by rainfall intensity. To investigate the relationship between the amount of splash erosion and rainfall intensity at meteorology stations of Kurdistan province, sprinkling cups were designed and installed in these stations. The displaced sands at given time intervals were measured. The rainfall intensity at the time intervals was extracted from related graphs and using Wieshmaier's formula, kinetic energy of rain was calculated. The results showed that the relationship between rainfall intensity and splash rate in Marivan station was more strong whereas nosignificant relationship was observed in Saghez station.