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Wind erosion starts when the threshold wind velocity (m t ) is exceeded. We evaluated the sensitivity of m t to determine the wind erosion susceptibility of soils under variable climatic conditions. Three years field data were used to calculate m t by means of the equation ), g the saltation activity and F the standard normal distribution function of g. Saltation activity was measured with a piezoelectric sensor (Sensit). Results showed that ū of the whole studied period (3Á41 m s À1) was lower than m t (7Á53 m s À1 ), therefore, wind erosion was produced mainly by wind gusts. The m t values ordered in the sequence: Winter (6Á10 m sHigher m t values were related to higher air humidity and lower wind speeds and temperatures. The m t values did not agree with the erosion amounts of each season, which ordered as follows:. Low m t and erosion amounts of Winter were produced by a scarce number of gusts during eroding storms. We concluded that m t is useful as an index of soil susceptibility to wind erosion of different climatic periods. The use of a unique m t value in wind erosion prediction models can lead to erroneous wind erosion calculations.

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