Application

This chapter begins with a description of the role of field-scale aeolian science in the amelioration of the Dust Bowl in the Western Plains of the USA in the 1930s. It then looks at other field-scale research into wind erosion in the Sahel of Africa, before discussing research into wind erosion at greater scales. An essential tool for the assessment of wind erosion as the scale expands is the soil map. The chapter provides an overview of research and practice in shelterbelts. It examines recent research into the effects of shelter on wind erosion at the field scale. These results are then used, with other data, to examine the history of a massive increase in scale: the 'Plains Shelterbelt'. The chapter provides a brief review of the subsequent history of proposals for massive shelterbelts. It explores the early history of applied aeolian science, and describes how environmental science and economics can be examined in parallel.