Influence of raindrops on soil erosion

How raindrops influence soil erosion??

A raindrop accelerates as it falls until it reaches terminal velocity - the speed at which the friction between the drop and the air balances the force of gravity. Larger raindrops fall faster, reaching a terminal velocity of about 30 km/h (Brady and Weil, 2002). As the speeding raindrops impact the soil with explosive force, they transfer their high kinetic energy to the soil particles.
Raindrop impact exerts three important detrimental effects under certain conditions, causes an appreciable transportation of soil.
1) It detaches soil,
2) It destroys granulation and
3) Its splash

The force exerted by the raindrops not only loosen and detach soil granules but also beat the granules to pieces. As the disperse material dries, it may develop into hard crust, which will prevent the emergence of seedlings and will encourage runoff from subsequent precipitation.


Soil erosion may be of two types and we know it.
1) Wind erosion: Caused by wind.
2) Water erosion: Caused by water.

Soil erosion 

Types of water erosion

Three types of water erosion are generally recognized:

1) sheet erosion

2) rill erosion and

3) gully erosion.

In sheet erosion, splashed soil is removed more or less uniformly, except that tiny columns of soil often remain where pebbles intercept the raindrops. However, as the sheet flow is concentrated into tiny channels, will erosion becomes dominant. Rills are especially common on bare land, whether newly planted or in fallow. Rills are channels small enough to be smoothed  by normal tillage, but the damage is already done - the soils are lost. When sheet erosion takes place between irregularly spaced rills, it is called interrill erosion. 

Where the volume of runoff is further concentrated, the rushing water cuts deeper into the soil, deepening and coalescing the rills into larger channels termed gullies. This is called gully erosion.

Soil erosion