Combating wind erosion through soil stabilization under simulated wind flow condition – Case of Kuwait

The soil survey of Kuwait has revealed the landscapes dominated by loose sandy material, that are vulnerable to wind erosion. Globally three modes of soil particle movement (creep, saltation & suspension) by wind have been recognized. To evaluate these modes in the deserts of Kuwait, sixty surface soil samples were collected and analyzed for particle sizes to quantify relative occurrence of modes of particle movement in the deserts of Kuwait. This analysis revealed distribution of particles in the size ranges, as follows: saltation (70%) > Creep (20%) > Suspension (10%) confirming saltation is the main mode of soil movement. This has provided basic information to set up a pilot scale experiment to reduce the wind erosion rate through sand stabilization using various sand binding products in three treatments; T₁ (native sandy soil); T₂ (sand mixed with biochar and animal manure); T₃ (sand mixed with biochar, animal manure, Urea Formaldehyde (UF), Sulfonated Naphthalene Formaldehyde (SNF), and Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA). The results showed that the erosion rate of native sandy soil (T1) has increased from 3.33, 4.77 to 7.35 g/(m². min) when wind speed was increased from 5, 10 to 15 m/s, respectively. At the same wind speeds, the measured erosion loss was 1.99, 3.07, 5.32 g/(m². min) in T₂ and 1.17, 2.6, 4.24 g/(m². min) in T₃. From these results, it can be concluded that there is a possibility to reduce wind erosion in the deserts of Kuwait through sand stabilization and save the deserts from further degradation.