Maintaining standing vegetative soil cover is an important method of wind erosion control. However, an improved physical understanding of the mechanisms by which standing vegetation control wind erosion is needed so the erosion control level of vegetation not previously tested in a wind tunnel can be calculated. In this report, a theoretical approach that accounts for both the surface friction velocity reduction and the saltation interception by standing stalks is proposed. The predictive ability of the theory is then tested using two previously published data sets from wind tunnel studies in which soil loss was measured. The results show a high correlation between plant area index of stalks and soil protection. However, some initial tunnel experimental data on simulated plants with two movable leaves indicate that both plant area index and aerodynamic roughness may be needed to fully assess the erosion control level of canopies with leaves.
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