Wind Erosion in Western Queensland Australia

Chapter 5 – Land Erodibility Model Developmentwhich they were derived; and application outside the conditions under which they werederived can result in poor modelling outcomes (Visser et al., 2005).The approach taken to improving AUSLEM as specified by Webb et al. (2006) was toredesign its rule-based system to one using modified empirical expressions. Specificobjectives were to produce a model that:• Captures the physical nature of the land erodibility continuum;• Does not bias output toward certain soil groups or land forms;• Retains a computationally simple structure that functions with readily available inputspatial data, without the requirement for input development; and• Can be calibrated to suit soil and vegetation conditions in relevant application areas.5.3.3 Model FrameworkFigure 5.3 shows the revised model framework and computational procedure of AUSLEM.The model has two dynamic components accounting for daily grass cover and soil moistureeffects, and three static components that provide tree and stone cover masks and a soil texturefactor based on soil clay content. The computational procedure is numbered from 1 to 3.Following parameterisation of the soil erodibility model developed in Chapter 4, that modelmay also be incorporated into the AUSLEM framework.Figure 5.3 Flow chart illustrating the model framework and computational procedure (labelled 1 to 3).A texture based soil erodibility component (dotted arrows) can be included when a suitable modelbecomes available.136