Modelling soil movement by tillage

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Tillage moves a tremendous amount of soil within cultivated landscapes. For intensive, and still common tillage operations, one pass of tillage can move 50 to 100 kg of soil per meter width of tillage in the direction of tillage and can move some of that soil in excess of 4 meters. Soil movement is characterized by the movement of soil during tillage and by the displacement, or translocation of soil that is caused by tillage. In the study of tillage tool design, arrangement and operation, it is necessary to measure soil movement during tillage. It is necessary to measure soil translocation by tillage in the study of dispersion of soil constituents, amendments and contaminants. It is also necessary to measure translocation in the study of tillage erosion. Tillage erosion is the loss and accumulation of soil within a landscape resulting from the net movement of soil that is caused by the variability of translocation. The amount of translocation and its variability are affected by the design and operation of tillage implements and by the topographic and soil properties of landscapes. Although tillage translocation is now recognized as a major landscape process with significant agricultural and environmental implications, by comparison to other landscape processes, very little is understood about the movement of soil by tillage. There is a great need for fundamental understanding of soil movement by tillage to better manage and model the movement of soil during tillage and the translocation of soil by tillage, particularly on sloping land. The objectives of the proposed research are: 1) to examine the movement of soil by tillage on level and sloping land, and, based on these findings, 2) to develop and validate mechanistic models of the movement of soil by tillage on level and sloping land. The ultimate goal of this research will be to develop tillage equipment, practices and systems that better control the movement of soil and minimize the adverse effects of tillage translocation and tillage erosion. The study of tillage translocation and tillage erosion is a new and rapidly expanding area of research that integrates soil and environmental sciences with agricultural engineering. The proposed research will make significant contributions to this emerging area of science and engineering.