Soil erosion, as a type of land degradation, affects various human economic interests. It is shown that the most promising areas of erosion studies where economic methods can be applied are assessment of actual damage from soil erosion, determination of the amount of probable damage from erosion processes in soils, and economic analysis in the development of sustainable land use systems for areas with soils subject to erosion. The group of methods for determining economic damage, including those which take into account ecosystem services that soils “lose” as a result of erosion processes, is characterized by the greatest development. Methods for assessing the risk of soil erosion have a significant development potential, since an extensive database of predictive models and equations (USLE, RUSLE, RUSLE-2, WEPP, EUROSE, CREAMS, EPIC, VNIIZiZPE, etc.) has been created, which make it possible to assess indicators of soil erosion in the future. Sustainable land use systems are developed using the neoclassical capital theory, which requires that the fertility of soil and net social benefits from nonmarket goods and services from agricultural lands should be maintained over time. Thus, it is possible to create compensatory taxation mechanisms for areas with the manifestation of soil erosion processes.

The Department of Erosion and Soil Protection has developed the main scienti c directions - «Assessment of erosion processes in soils of various bioclimatic zones», «Study of the basics of sustainable land use» and «Ecological and economic assessment of soil and land degradation». It is proposed to develop both existing areas of scienti c research with a certain adjustment of their names and problems («Analysis and modeling of erosion processes in soils, including in the context of climate change», «Development of the concept of sustainable land use in the context of food security», «Ecology, economics and socio-demographic features of land use in the context of climate change and soil degradation»), as well as new directions that have some research history at the department - «Development of principles of soil protection», «Development of methodological foundations of land reclamation». e necessity of creating a holistic concept of soil protection is considered in particular detail. is concept should include both the formulation of legal (legislative and regulatory-methodological) principles of soil protection, and the de nition of criteria for assessing soils under which their protection can be carried out, and the development of soil protection systems ( rst of all, from the manifestation of erosion processes) in various bioclimatic and administrative-territorial conditions.

The Department of Soil Erosion and Conservation has developed the following main scientific areas: “Assessment of Erosion Processes in Soils of Various Bioclimatic Zones,” “Study of Fundamentals of Sustainable Land Use,” and “Ecological and Economic Assessment of Soil and Land Degradation.” It is proposed to develop both the existing areas of scientific research with a certain correction of their names and problems (“Analysis and Modeling of Erosion Processes in Soils, Taking into Account Soil Erosion under Climate Change Conditions,” “Development of the Concept of Sustainable Land Use in the Context of Food Security,” and “Ecology, Economics, and Sociodemographic Features of Land Use under Conditions of Climate Change and Soil Degradation”) and new areas that have some research history at the department “Development of Principles of Soil Protection” and “Development of Methodological Foundations of Land Reclamation.” The necessity of creating a holistic concept of soil protection is considered in particular detail. This concept should include the formulation of legal (legislative and regulatory–methodological) principles of soil protection, as well as the development of assessment criteria under which soils should be protected and the development of soil protection systems (primarily systems protecting from erosion processes) under different bioclimatic and administrative-territorial conditions.

Soil erosion by water under storm runoff conditions has been determined in two steps using a sort of a single-tipping-bucket rain gauge and an adjustable water separator. At the first stage, a preliminary mixed sample has been collected in a storage container of sufficient volume. At the second stage, it has been again passed through a metering device; the water separation coefficient in the water separator has been set to obtain an average sample of about 1 L for handy filtration. The dry residue weight has been divided by the product of the water separation coefficients in both operations to obtain the total weight of the washed off soil. The average sample volume has also been divided by the product of the water separation coefficients to obtain the total runoff.