A wind tunnel experiment to investigate the effect of polyvinyl acetate, biochar, and bentonite on wind erosion control

Due to the heavy costs of wind erosion control measures, the correct selection of technical methods is indispensable for a sustainable land management in arid and semiarid regions. Thus, the main goal of this research was to investigate the feasibility of using the clay minerals (i.e., bentonite), polyvinyl acetate and palm biochar for reducing the wind erosion in deserts surrounding the cities. The treatments were sprayed uniformly onto the containers (5 x 35 x 105 cm, 0.37 m(2)) with sand (collected from sand dunes surrounding Isfahan city, central Iran) in 3 replicates. The experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel with sequential repetitions after 1, 10, and 20 weeks. Among the studied treatments, the bentonite planters demonstrated to be the most effective soil erosion control measure by reducing soil loss and improving sand ablation. On the contrary, the palm biochar had less influence on the soil erosion control and only a slight effect on the threshold speed. For the future, further studies are required to select the best and most relevant soil erosion control measures under field conditions considering all the environmental aspects in arid regions of Iran.