An averaging procedure for applying the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to disturbed mountain watersheds
Disturbed lands in mountain watersheds may be a significant source of sediment. A systematic rating of their potential for erosion would be useful in soil conservation planning. RUSLE is a successful erosion-prediction technique, well tested on gentle slopes of agricultural lands. In view of its suc...
| Authors: | ; ; |
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| Format: | Article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication date: | 2002 |
| Country: | Argentina |
| Institution: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repository: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/131458 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/131458 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | FOREST FIRE EROSION RUSLE SOIL https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
| Summary: | Disturbed lands in mountain watersheds may be a significant source of sediment. A systematic rating of their potential for erosion would be useful in soil conservation planning. RUSLE is a successful erosion-prediction technique, well tested on gentle slopes of agricultural lands. In view of its success, attempts have been made to apply RUSLE to areas of complex topography by substituting upstream contributing area for the linear-flow model embodied in the RUSLE L-factor. This substitution leads, however, to uncertain results. The L-factor represents, for a particular topographic profile, the length of overland flow from its inception to the point where it reaches a channel or a break in slope that causes deposition. Many separate profiles would sample the population of overland-flow lengths in a watershed. R.E. Horton's drainage density (D) offers a simple alternative to measuring numerous profiles. Because 1I(2*D) is a measure of average overland-flow length, it can be used to calculate the L-factor. The other RUSLE factors must be computed on an area-average basis. This procedure is applied to a forested watershed disturbed by wildfire, and the result is favorably compared to the value obtained from applying the traditional procedure |
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