LASER SCANNER FOR EROSION PLOT MEASUREMENTS

Erosion of our lands is a serious problem, which often is difficult to visually defect. Established procedures for measuring soil loss most often involve establishment of a set of erosion plots and then measure ment of runoff and sediment from one location, at the end of the plot. With greater emphasis on understanding of the erosion processes at di screte points on the landscape, better research equipment is needed wh ich can precisely measure the amount (both depths and mass) of soil lo st or sediment deposited. A large (1 x 3 m) laser scanner was develope d at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, National Soil Erosion Res earch Laboratory to provide better measurement of detachment and depos ition at points along an erosion plot or a laboratory flume. This appa ratus has been used in a variety of applications, including field and laboratory measurement of erosion and deposition depths and mass, dete rmination of rill channel geometry, and bulk density measurements. Tes ting of the system indicates that the elevation readings obtained are very precise, having an average standard deviation of less than 0.30 m m at the optimal scan speed.