Wind erosion after steppe conversion in Kazakhstan: Data from mobile wind tunnel experiments

<p>Semi-arid regions of Central Asia suffer from wind erosion due to expanding steppe conversion and unsustainable farming practices. This dataset contains empirical data from a test site with loamy sand, where a mobile wind tunnel was used to assess the soil's erodibility under real conditions. Field experiments were conducted on different initial conditions that are typical for the most erosive time of the year: <br/>
- a bare surface with a cloddy structure after recent steppe conversion <br/>
- a weak crust on a plot with barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i> L.) <br/>
- a plot with loose material in the rows maize plants (<i>Zea mays</i> L.). <br/>
Subsequently, different levels of mechanical stresses (low, moderate, high) were considered to analyze the effect of the disruptive forces soils experience during field cultivation on possible soil losses. <br/>
This data collection includes typical surface characteristics (pH, electrical conductivity, texture, soil organic carbon, soil moisture) along with erodible fraction (%) and roughness length (mm) from the topsoil layer (0-25 mm depth) measured before each wind tunnel experiment and resulting total soil loss (g/m2) (Part 1/5). It also contains the mass of aeolian sediments from different heights for each experimental run (Part 2/5). The dry aggregate size distribution (Part 3/5) determined by laser diffraction of aeolian sediments and natural depositions are also included. The topsoil, aeolian sediments, and natural depositions were analyzed for particle size distribution (Part 4/5) and soil organic carbon (Part 5/5). <br/>
The parent table (Part 0/5) contains the index of all tables forming this data collection. Related datasets are listed in the metadata element 'Related Identifier'. <br/>
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The supplement information details how the vertical distribution of the horizontal sediment loss was used to quantify wind erosion. Therefore, the sediment mass collected in the MWAC was related to the inlet area and the open floor area inside the mobile wind tunnel. Total soil loss (g/m²) was derived from semi-logarithmic regression by fitting the total mass of caught sediments (qz) at the height (z) to ln(z). <br/>
Dataset version 1.0 </p>