Wind Erosion Sediment Trap

The wind erosion sediment trap automatically records the aeolically transported sediment material.

This is weighed directly in the system and then remains in the weighing pan to be available for subsequent investigations. The body of the system is completely made of stainless steel and consists of a foot, which contains a logger, accumulator and balance as well as rotatably mounted head part with wind flag for the actual sampling. The foot of the system is usually installed underneath in order to guarantee that the wind flow is influenced as little as possible and to ensure a safe stand.

Due to the wind flag, the head part always aligns with the inlet opening in the wind direction so that the air flows directly into the measuring system. There it meets a baffle, from which the sediment particles entrained fall down onto the balance. The air flows out again through the outlet opening, which is applied above the baffle plate. The mass of the sediment is cumulatively recorded by the balance and stored in time in the internal data logger. The start and the intensity of an event can thus also be taken from the recorded data.

In combination with a weather station the aeolian sediment load can be obtained in connection with the meteorological parameters, in particular the wind conditions. This results in a comprehensive picture of wind-induced erosion. With measuring stations equipped in this way, the weighing data can be recorded via the data logger of the weather station so that no two loggers are required. The energy supply is then taken over by the weather station. As a rule, both the Winderosion sediment trap and the weather station are supplied with electricity by a change-over accumulator. However, the energy supply can also be realized via solar panels for autonomous operation.