Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Suitability of different erosivity models used in RUSLE2 for the South West Indian region

  • Published:
The Environmentalist Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

RUSLE2 is the most used soil erosion model in practice. The rainfall-erosivity factor (R) is one of the six factors that is taken into consideration while estimating soil loss at a hill slope profile. R is determined using rainfall data collected from any region making use of basic rainstorm kinetic energy versus rainfall intensity relationships, which are variable for different geographic regions. Indian researchers used a specific erosivity model for building an iso-erosivity map for India. Many other erosivity models around the world are now available. However, it is not clear whether one can replace RUSLE2 recommended model by the ones derived in other geographic regions for using in Indian soil erosion studies. This has been examined here on south-western Indian data. Various models derived in diverse places were analyzed and compared with the RUSLE2 recommended relationship; and found that, a few could very well replace the usual RUSLE2 recommended expression.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ateshian JKH (1974) Estimation of rainfall erosion index. J Irrig Drain Eng Trans ASCE 100(3):293–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Babu R, Tejwani KG, Agarwal MC (1978) Distribution of erosion index and iso-erodent map of India. Indian J Soil Conserv 6(1):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Barclay PA (1975) Raindrop size distributions in the Melbourne area. In: Proceedings of hydrology symposium, Australian Institute for Engineers, Armidale, pp 112–116

  • Brown LC, Foster GR (1987) Storm erosivity using idealized intensity distributions. Trans ASAE 30:379–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter CE, Greer JD, Braud HJ, Floyd JM (1974) Raindrop characteristics in South Central United States. Trans ASAE 17:1033–1037

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerro C, Bech J, Codina B, Lorente L (1998) Modelling rain erosivity using disdrometric techniques. Soil Sci Soc Am J 62:731–735

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coutinho MA, Thomas PP (1995) Characterization of raindrop size distributions at the Vale Formoso Experimental Erosion Center. Catena 25:187–197. doi:10.1016/0341-8162(95)00009-H

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diodato N (2005) Predicting RUSLE (revised universal soil loss equation) monthly erosivity index from readily available rainfall data in Mediterranean Area. Environmentalist 25:63–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Elwell HA, Stocking MA (1973) Rainfall parameters for soil loss estimation in a sub-tropical climate. J Agric Eng Res 18:169–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster GR, McCool DK, Renard KG, Moldenhauer WC (1981) Conversion of the universal soil loss equation to SI metric units. J Soil Water Conserv 36(6):355–359

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunn R, Kinzer GD (1949) Terminal velocity of fall for water droplets in stagnant air. J Meteorol 6:243–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudson NW (1963) Raindrop size distribution in high intensity storms. Rhodesian J Agric Res 1(1):6–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayawardena AW, Rezaur RB (2000) Drop size distribution and kinetic energy load of rainstorms in Hong Kong. Hydrol Process 14:1069–1082. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1085(20000430)14:6<1069::AID-HYP997>3.0.CO;2-Q

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinnell PIA (1973) The problem of assessing the erosive power of rainfall from meteorological observations. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 37:617–621

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinnell PIA (1981) Rainfall-kinetic energy relationships for soil loss prediction. Soil Sci Soc Am J 45:153–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kowal JM, Kassam AH (1977) Energy load and instantaneous intensity of rainstorms at Samaru, northern Nigeria. In: Greenland DJ, Lal R (eds) Soil conservation and management in the humid tropics. Wiley, Chichester, pp 57–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (1976) Soil erosion on Alfisols in western Nigeria, ill effects of rainfall characteristics. Geoderma 16:389–401. doi:10.1016/0016-7061(76)90003-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laws JO (1941) Measurements of the fall-velocities of water drops and raindrops. Hydrology 22:709–721

    Google Scholar 

  • Laws JO, Parsons DA (1943) The relation of raindrop size with intensity. Trans AGU 24:452–459

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason BJ, Andrews JB (1960) Drop size distributions from various types of rain. Q J R Meteorol Soc 86:346–353. doi:10.1002/qj.49708636906

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGregor KC, Mutchler CK (1977) Status of the R-factor in northern Mississippi. In: Soil erosion: prediction and control, Spec. Publication No. 21, Soil Conservation Society of Am., Ankeny, Iowa, pp 135–142

  • McIsaac GF (1990) Apparent geographic and atmospheric influences on raindrop sizes and rainfall kinetic energy. J Soil Water Conserv 45(6):663–666

    Google Scholar 

  • Pal I (2007) Impact of monsoon rainfall on soil erosion. MPhil thesis, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge

  • Pal I, Al-Tabbaa A (2007) Assessing the risk of contaminant spreading through sediment production in a tropical environment. In: Proceeding of international conference on technologies for waste and wastewater treatment, remediation of contaminated sites and emissions related to climate, ECO-TECH 07, Kalmar, Sweden, pp 535–545

  • Pal I, Al-Tabbaa A (2008) Monsoonal climate variability and its impact on the susceptibility of rainfall to cause erosion. In: Proceeding of 15th international conference of ISCO (international soil conservation organisation), Budapest, Hungary (accepted)

  • Renard KG, Freimund JR (1994) Using monthly precipitation data to estimate the R-factor in the revised USLE. J Hydrol (Amst) 157:287–306. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(94)90110-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renard KG, Foster GR, Weesies GA, McCool DK, Yoder DC (1997) Predicting soil erosion by water: a guide to conservation planning with the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE), agriculture handbook 703, USDA-ARS. South West Watershed Research Center, Tucson

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosewell CJ (1986) Rainfall kinetic energy in eastern Australia. J Clim Appl Meteorol 25:1695–1701. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1986)025<1695:RKEIEA>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sepaskhah AR, Sarkhosh P (2005) Estimating storm erosion index in southern region of I. R. Iran. Iran J Sci Technol Trans B Eng 29(B3):357–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Stocking MA, Elwell HA (1973) Prediction of sub-tropical storm soil losses from field plot studies. Agric Meteorol 12:193–201. doi:10.1016/0002-1571(73)90019-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stocking MA, Elwell HA (1976) Rainfall erosivity over Rhodesia. Trans. of Institute of British Geographers. N Ser 1(2):231–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracy FC, Renard KG, Fogel MM (1984) Rainfall energy characteristics for south-eastern Arizona. In: Water-today and tomorrow, Proc. ASCE. Irrigation and Drainage Division, Specially Conf., Flagstaff, AZ, pp 559–566

  • Williams MA (1969) Prediction of rainfall splash erosion in the seasonally wet tropics. Nature 222:763–765. doi:10.1038/222763a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wischmeier WH, Smith DD (1958) Rainfall energy and its relationship to soil loss. Trans AGU 39:285–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu B, Rosewell CJ (1996) An assessment of a daily rainfall erosivity model for New South Wales. Aust J Soil Res 34:139–152. doi:10.1071/SR9960139

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK

    Indrani Pal & Abir Al-Tabbaa

Authors
  1. Indrani Pal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abir Al-Tabbaa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Indrani Pal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pal, I., Al-Tabbaa, A. Suitability of different erosivity models used in RUSLE2 for the South West Indian region. Environmentalist 29, 405–410 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-009-9232-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-009-9232-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation