How does rainfall affect soil

Physical and Chemical Effects of Rain Waterlogging happens when soil becomes saturated with water. Salvaging the Soil After a heavy rainfall or flash flood, farmers need to react in a timely manner. Plant cover crops such as legumes beans or small grains that cover and protect the soil from erosion.

A cover crop provides good ground cover and adds organic matter to soil while also stimulating microbial and fungal activity. Contour plow , which means to plow or plant across a slope using perpendicular contour lines. This way, when rain storms happen, there are rills and gullies to help disperse the water and carefully settle into the soil.

Improve water infiltration to maintain the rate which water gets into soil. This also helps crops have more access to water, but also prevents soil erosion from stealing the nutrients. Organic matter addition and gypsum can help here.

Share Tweet. Read More - 26 April Read More - 12 April Sheet erosion refers to the removal of a thin layer of topsoil by shallow surface flow in areas that have very little vegetation to protect it. It strips the much-needed nutrients and organic matter from the soil that is essential for successful revegetation. This process is quite slow and can go unnoticed for a long period of time. Rill erosion is caused by runoff water which forms small, shallow channels as it concentrates in a downwards motion down a slope.

Rill erosion can be described as the intermediate stage between sheet and gully erosion. Although spectacular to look at, gully erosion affects soil productivity, restricts land usage and can damage roads, buildings and any barriers in place. Gullies occur when runoff concentrates and flows with enough force to detach and move soil particles.

Once they begin, gullies will continue to move by headward erosion or by slumping of the side walls until there is insufficient runoff to continue the erosion. Once stabilised however, gullies lose very little soil despite their dramatic appearance. The removal of subsoil by surface water creates tunnel erosion. This process begins when surface water seeps into existing holes or cracks in the soil, disperses and is carried away with the flow. Can Rain Change the pH of Soil?

Home Guides Garden Garden Care. By Sarah Morse. Related Articles. How It Happens Rain leaches alkaline elements including calcium, magnesium and potassium from the soil into runoff water, leaving acidic elements like hydrogen, aluminum and manganese to replace the bases. Soil Composition The material that erodes to make soil originally determines pH. Time Acidification from rainfall does not occur in one growing season but instead over hundreds of years of high rainfall amounts.

Other Factors Sometimes, you can live in an area with low rainfall, but have more acidic soil than that amount of rainfall should indicate. The right amount of rainfall can balance out these factors, which can lead to healthier, larger crops that can be harvested more fully. Balancing proper watering is key to the best crops possible.

Sigfox-enabled sensors can help farmers better track and predict weather conditions and rainfall, thus leading to better crop health. Learn more about how IoT sensors can monitor weather conditions. Learn More. Contact us. When to Water Knowing when to water, as well as how much to water, is skill backed by years of experienced for farmers.

Growth from Seed Besides disease, rainfall can also determine how fast a crop will grow from seed, including when it will be ready for harvesting.