Wind erosion in eastern Australia

Abstract

Land degradation surveys in Australia may not have fully delineated the nature and extent of wind erosion, owing perhaps, to a shortage of quantitative data on wind erosion rates and to the subtle and transient nature of field evidence. The Ew Index of wind erosion demonstrates that regional climatic factors (i.e. effective soil moisture and wind erosivity) have a significant influence upon wind erosion rates (measured by dust storm frequencies). Also, a map of wind erosion classes shows areas where wind erosion is increased or decreased by local conditions of soil/sediment erodibility and/or agricultural and pastoral activities.