Development of Portable Artificial Rainfall Simulator for Evaluating Sustainable Farming in Kenya
2017 年 8 巻 1 号 p. 27-33
詳細
2017 年 8 巻 1 号 p. 27-33
Artificial rainfall simulation is an important aspect to investigate soil erosion process and surface runoff through application of rainfall simulator. On the other hand portable artificial rainfall simulator can be utilized in remote areas to solve some of the challenges that may be posed by heavy and expensive factory-made rainfall simulators at the same time maintaining the effectiveness and efficiency of the equipment. Drop size, kinetic energy, surface runoff and sediment yield were obtained from experiments conducted using artificial portable rainfall simulator developed in the lab of land and water use engineering for testing on actual fields with different vegetation cover in Kenya. Average kinetic energy and drop size calculated from 24 outlet needles of the rainfall simulator was found to be approximately 1.6 x 10-5 J and 3.42 mm respectively. Using calibrated cylinder, intensity was measured randomly along the simulator needle outlets and average intensity calculated as 40 mm hr-1. Water pressure was generated through elevated Marriote bottle. Experiments were conducted in research site in Mombasa Kenya. Drop size and kinetic energy for actual rainfall in Kenya were also determined. Evaluation of soil erosion using portable artificial rainfall simulator is therefore important in establishment of proper and effective soil erosion control strategy for achieving sustainable farming in Kenya.
