Soil erosion by water is one of the most severe soil degradation processes. Splash erosion is the initial stage of soil erosion by water, resulting from the destructive force of rain drops acting on soil surface aggregates. Apart from rainfall properties, constant soil physical properties (texture and soil organic matter) are crucial in understanding the splash erosion. However, there is lack of information about the effect of variable soil properties such as soil initial water content and surface condition (seal formation) on splash erosion. The objective of the present study was to determine how initial water content and surface condition affected soil splash erosion under simulated rainfall. The changes in soil surface condition were characterized by hydraulic variability (saturated hydraulic conductivity) due to surface seal formation. Slit loam and loamy sand soil textures were used in the experiment. The soil samples were collected from the top layer; air dried, and filled into modified Morgan splash cups for splash erosion measurements. Rainfall was created in the laboratory using two types of rainfall simulators covering intensity range from 28 to 54 mm h⁻¹ and from 35 to 81 mm h⁻¹. The soil samples were exposed to three consecutive rainfall simulations with different time intervals between simulations and different initial water content and surface conditions (air-dried, wet-sealed, and dry-crusted). Wet-sealed soil samples had up to 70% lower splash erosion rate compared to air-dried samples, due to surface ponding followed by seal formation. A significant decrease in soil saturated hydraulic conductivity indicated the formation of surface seal for silt loam soils. A non-significant decrease in saturated hydraulic conductivity for loamy sand soil was attributed to earlier formation of stable seals. Two different rainfall simulators produced different amount of splash erosion rates; however, the splash erosion development for increasing rainfall intensity was almost equal considering same initial surface condition. These results provide insight into dynamic changes of individual soil parameters affected by rainfall, and could find wider application for more complex soil erosion prediction models.

水对土壤的侵蚀是最严重的土壤退化过程之一。飞溅侵蚀是水侵蚀土壤的初始阶段，这是由于雨滴对土壤表面聚集体的破坏力所致。除了降雨特性外，恒定的土壤物理特性（质地和土壤有机质）对于理解飞溅侵蚀也至关重要。但是，缺乏有关可变土壤特性（例如土壤初始含水量和表面状况（密封形成））对飞溅侵蚀的影响的信息。本研究的目的是确定模拟降雨条件下初始含水量和表面状况如何影响土壤飞溅侵蚀。土壤表面状况的变化以由于表面密封形成而引起的水力变化（饱和水力传导率）为特征。实验中使用了狭缝壤土和壤质沙土质地。从顶层收集土壤样品。风干后，装入改良的Morgan防溅杯中，以进行防溅蚀测量。降雨是在实验室中使用两种类型的降雨模拟器创建的，它们的覆盖范围从28到54 mm h^-1和35至81 mm h ^-1。将土壤样品暴露于三个连续的降雨模拟中，模拟之间的时间间隔不同，并且初始水含量和表面条件（风干，湿密封和干结壳）不同。与空气干燥的样品相比，湿密封的土壤样品的飞溅侵蚀率降低了70％，这归因于表面堆积和随后形成的密封。土壤饱和导水率的显着降低表明粉质壤土的表层密封形成。壤质沙土的饱和导水率无明显下降的原因是较早形成了稳定的密封层。两种不同的降雨模拟器产生了不同程度的飞溅侵蚀率。然而，考虑到相同的初始表面条件，随着降雨强度的增加，飞溅侵蚀的发展几乎相等。