Aggregate and Particle Size Distribution of the Soil Sediment Eroded on Steep Artificial Slopes

In this study, the particle size distribution (PSD) of the soil sediment from topsoil obtained from soil erosion experiments under different conditions was measured. Rainfall simulators were used for rain generation on the soil erosion plots with slopes 22°, 30°, 34° and length 4.25 m. The influence of the external factors (slope and initial state) on the particle and aggregate size distribution were evaluated by laser diffractometer (LD). The aggregate representation percentage in the eroded sediment was also investigated. It has been found that when the erosion processes are intensive (steep slope or long duration of the raining), the eroded sediment contains coarser particles and lower amounts of aggregates. Three methods for the soil particle analyses were tested: (i) conventional–sieving and hydrometer method; (ii) PARIO Soil Particle Analyzer combined with sieving; and (iii) laser diffraction (LD) using Mastersizer 3000. These methods were evaluated in terms of reproducibility of the results, time demands, and usability. It was verified that the LD has significant advantages compared to other two methods, especially the short measurement time for one sample (only 15 min per sample for LD) and the possibility to destroy soil aggregates using ultrasound which is much easier than using hexametaphosphate.