Research Equipment

	In a wind tunnel, technician Brent Schroeder prepares to measure how live plants and straw residue slow windblown soil erosion.
	Researchers Fred Fox and Larry Wagner examine the laser light pattern on standing wheat residue in the lab.
	Researchers Fred Fox and Larry Wagner scan the corn residue that remained standing after overwintering.
	Researchers Fred Fox and Larry Wagner demonstrate how the laser can be used to measure stem widths.
	Researchers Fred Fox and Larry Wagner discuss the value of tillering for increasing the number of standing stems and wind erosion protection.
	Technicians Wayne Carstenson (left) and Brent Schroeder use a laser system to record the roughness of a soil sample.
	Technician Brent Schroeder measures the force needed to crush soil clods or aggregates to see how well they would resist abrasion during a windstorm. This device is known as a "soil aggregate crushing energy meter" or SACEM.
	Measuring soil surfaces doesn't have to be this arduous. Photographic pin meter operated by technicians Wayne Carstenson (left) and Brent Schroeder will be replaced by the new laser recording system.
	Both weather and tillage affect the number and size of aggregates in soils. Here, student employee Cheryle Nowlin uses a rotary sieve to measure changes in soil samples.
	Portable wind tunnel.
	A pin meter used to measure soil roughness.
	A dust sampling array.
	A dust sampling array.
	A dust sampling array.
	"Sand Fighter." An implement used to roughen the soil surface to make it less susceptible to wind erosion.
	This is an early version of a rotary sieve used to measure aggregate size and stability.
	Dust catching equipment near Garden City, KS.
	Aerosizer is used for particle size distribution. The machine takes a soil sample in power form and will give the distribution. Working size range is 1-200 micron.
	Tillage equipment is tested to determine how it affects soil aggregate size distribution, surface roughness, residue flattening, and residue burial.
	Measurement of soil water content using a portable computer and cable tester. Water content controls microbial activity and the decomposition rate of crop residues.
	Focusing on better ways to predict soil losses, agricultural engineer Donald McCool inspects a test plot where stubble has been removed for studies on soil erosion.
	Horizontal crusher is used for finding the energy required to break an aggregate.
	Laser scanner is used to determine a surface roughness. Shown here installed in a wind tunnel, but can also be used in the field.
	Sonic sieve is used to seperate soil into different sizes. We have 5,10,15,20,30,50,75,100,150,and 250 micron sieves
	Vertical crusher is used for finding the energy required to break an aggregate.

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