Comparison of conventional and artificial fallout radionuclide (FRNs) methods in assessing soil erosion

ABSTRACT

Soil erosion is a major global environmental problem. The objective of this paper is to review conventional and non-conventional-artificial radionuclide techniques for soil erosion assessment using secondary data. Data gathered reveal that accurate assessment of soil erosion rates is a pre-requirement for environmental planning and soil conservation strategies. Nevertheless, estimating rates of soil erosion is still challenging despite availability of numerous assessing methods. Many assessing methods were developed at localized scales therefore limited applications in other areas. This review compared effectiveness of different soil erosion assessing methods in different areas. Generally, soil erosion can be assessed by conventional methods and non-conventional methods e.g use of artificial fallout Radionuclide (FRNs). FRNs quantifie relatively long-term (>30 years) soil erosion and deposition, however, not suitable for short-term and individual soil erosion events. Conventional methods are associated with point data, do not provide information on spatial distribution, labor-intensive and require long monitoring periods. Assessing soil erosion method should be site-specific rather than generalizing. Therefore, there is no one take for all methods in assessing soil erosion but choice of a method to use should depend on prevailing climatic conditions, resources available and time period (short or long term) of erosion data required.

KEYWORDS:

• accuracy
• conservation
• deposition
• erosion
• fallout radionuclides
• runoff

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Soil erosion is a major form of land degradation. The rate of erosion occurring in an area is dependent on the specific soil type and vegetation cover present. Accurate assessment of soil loss in an area is important for planning and soil erosion control strategies. However, it is still difficult to accurately assess the rate of soil loss despite that numerous assessment methods were devised. General assessment methods are usually applied when estimating soil loss resulting in inaccurate data. The inaccurate data will lead to the application of unsuitable control measures hence the persistence of the problem. Many assessing methods were developed at localized scales therefore limited applications in other areas. Soil erosion is assessed by conventional and non-conventional methods, for example use of artificial fallout radionuclide (FRN). FRNs quantify relatively long-term (>30 years) soil erosion and deposition, however, not suitable for short-term and individual soil erosion events.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Zimbabwe Open University for time and resource support received for the study as well as the Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences for the support given to the first and last authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cosmas Parwada

Cosmas Parwada is an Agriculture and Rural Development Scientist at the Tugwi Mukosi Multidisciplinary Research Institute (TMMRI), Midlands State University, Zimbabwe. He is a soil scientist with a sound background in agronomy. He has published many articles related to crop production and soil fertility and conservation.

Justin Chipomho

Justin Chipomho is a seasoned lecturer and head of Crop Science department at the Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Zimbabwe. He is a renowned researcher in crop production and soil fertility.

Handsen Tibugari

Handsen Tibugari is a lecturer at the Gwanda State University, Zimbabwe. He has extensively researched on potential utilization of sorghum allelopathy for weed management. He has vastly published articles related to crop production and crop protection.