Study of Rainfall Characteristics and Soil Erosion by Varying Pressure Using a Rainfall Simulator

A field experiment was carried out at KCAET campus, Tavanur, Malappuram District, Kerala to study the effect of pressure variations on rainfall characteristics and soil erosion using a rainfall simulator. A pressurized nozzle type rainfall simulator using Pop-up sprinkler was designed and fabricated with pressurized water supply. The rainfall simulation unit was tested with water pressures of 0.5, 1.3, 1.5, and 2.0 kg cm⁻² in the laboratory. The fabricated rainfall simulator could produce rainfall intensities varying from 8.16 to 8.80 cm/h. The uniformity of rainfall varied from 89.01 to 92.70 per cent and the average drop size varied from 1.5 to 2.8 mm. From the results of the experiment the rainfall characteristics such as rainfall intensity and uniformity was found to increase and mean drop size was found to decrease with increase in applied pressure and soil erosion was found to increase with increase in rainfall intensity.