Greenwood small agricultural catchment study - soil management (Queensland) 1978-1984

This study was established to examine the influence of soil surface conditions on runoff and soil erosion, on a site representative of one of the major soil types of the eastern Darling Downs.
This dataset containa 7 years of daily record of rainfall, runoff, suspended sediment and soil movement, along with periodic soil sampling for soil water, soil surface cover and roughness.
This project examined the influence of rainfall intensity, runoff rate and ground cover on suspended sediment moving through a flume at the exit from a contour bay and the effects of contour banks on sediment delivery to streams were evaluated. Several methods of sampling and calculating suspended soil loss were evaluated.
Key findings: Surface cover was effective in reducing soil movement and runoff from contour bay catchments. Runoff and sediment concentration were both inversely related to surface cover and total soil movement was greatly reduced by surface cover. Greater than 75% of the variance in soil movement from single events was explained by surface cover and peak runoff rate.
This dataset provides a sound basis for developing and testing water balance/water quality models for cropping and pastures in southern Queensland.