ABSTRACT:
A new procedure for estimating the cover-management factor (C) in the universal soil loss equation (USLE) for forest conditions is based on an evaluation of nine subfactors: (1) amount of bare soil, (2) canopy, (3) soil reconsolidation, (4) high organic content, (5) fine roots, (6) residual binding effect, (7) on-site storage, (8) steps, and (9) contour tillage. The procedure, validated with data from 39 research watersheds in the Southeast, provided reasonably good estimates of erosion. Use of C values obtained with this procedure are preferable to use of those from tables 11 and 12 in Agricultural Handbook 537.
Footnotes
George E. Dissmeyer is staff hydrologist, Southeastern Area, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Atlanta, Georgia 30367, and George R. Foster is a hydraulic engineer, Science and Education Administration—Agricultural Research, USDA, and associate professor, Agricultural Engineering Department, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907. This report is a contribution from Forest Service, State and Private Forestry, and SEA—AR in cooperation with Purdue Agricultural Experiment Station. Purdue Journal Paper No. 8091.
- Copyright 1981 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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