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In semi-arid regions, fertility loss of soil due to wind erosion should be modified in the future by the combined effect of climate change and increasing human activities. Current wind erosion models (including saltation and suspension) are not adapted to the sparse vegetated surfaces of these regions.

WIND-O-V (WIND erOsion in presence of sparse Vegetation) aims at modeling wind erosion over sparse vegetated surfaces from local to regional scales. We will develop the first physically-based model resolving explicitly saltating particle trajectories and dust suspension, in presence of vegetation, and coupled with a Large-Eddy Simulation airflow model. This novel model combined with field experiments will be used (1) to quantify soil erosion and soil fertility loss as a function of vegetation, soil and wind characteristics, (2) to deduce some optimal crop organizations for sustainable soil management, and (3) to improve erosion schemes in regional dust-dispersal model.

WIND-O-V is a 5-years project (2016-2020) funded by ANR (The French National Research Agency).