A review of the (Revised) Universal Soil Loss Equation ((R)USLE): with a view to increasing its global applicability and  improving soil loss estimates

Benavidez, Rubianca; Jackson, Bethanna; Maxwell, Deborah; Norton, Kevin

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-6059-2018

Articles | Volume 22, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-6059-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-6059-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 11

Review article

|

27 Nov 2018

Review article |

| 27 Nov 2018

A review of the (Revised) Universal Soil Loss Equation ((R)USLE): with a view to increasing its global applicability and improving soil loss estimates

Rubianca Benavidez, Bethanna Jackson, Deborah Maxwell, and Kevin Norton

Data sets

Global Assessment of Human-Induced Soil Degradation (http://data.isric.org/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/9e84c15e-cb46-45e2-9126-1ca38bd5cd22) E. Bridges and L. Oldeman https://doi.org/10.1080/089030699263212

250 m MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Collection 4 M. L. Carroll, C. M. DiMiceli, R. A. Sohlberg, and J. R. G. Townshend http://glcf.umd.edu/data/ndvi/

Rainfall erosivity in Europe (https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/rainfall-erosivity-european-union-and-switzerland) P. Panagos, C. Ballabio, P. Borrelli, K. Meusburger, A. Klik, S. Rousseva, and C. Alewell https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.01.008

Global rainfall erosivity assessment based on high-temporal resolution rainfall records (https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/global-rainfall-erosivity) P. Panagos, P. Borrelli, K. Meusburger, B. Yu, A. Klik, K. Jae Lim, and C. Ballabio https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04282-8

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies https://data.giss.nasa.gov/landuse/ndvi.html

Short summary

Soil erosion is a global problem and models identify vulnerable areas for management. One such model is the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation. We review its different sub-factors and compile studies and equations that modified it for local conditions. The limitations of RUSLE include its data requirements and exclusion of gullying and landslides. Future directions include accounting for these erosion types. This paper serves as a reference for others working with RUSLE and related approaches.