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Competency Area 5: Soil conservation AEM

PO 43. Understand how climatic factors affect soil erosion.

Rainfall quantity and intensity are important. Greater rainfall amounts per year increase the potential for erosion, but the intensity of rainfall is more important. Gentle, drizzling rain from frontal storms is not highly erosive, whereas convectional storms in summer or fall produce downpours with large droplet size which can cause severe erosion. Hurricanes also typically produce high intensity rainfall events.

erosion rain.jpg

Erosion and deposition of sediment due to heavy rains

Photo courtesy of NRCS

http://photogallery.nrcs.usda.gov