RUSLE revisited: Status, questions, answers, and the future

Excerpt

USLE, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, is a modern erosion predicrion and conservation planning tool based in large part on the USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) and its supporting data, but also including major improvements and updates. Differences between RUSLE and the USLE were described in some detail in earlier articles (I I, 12). This report will describe changes in RUSLE since the time of those articles, and proposed future changes in RUSLE technology. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Soil Conservation Service (SCS) has recently made the decision to implement RUSLE as its official erosion prediction and conservation planning tool (13). This article will answer questions concerning RUSLE's implementation and use.

RUSLE description

General description of RUSLE. RUSLE uses the same fundamental structure as did the USLE (15):

A = predicted soil loss (tons acre⁻¹ year⁻¹)

R = climate erosivity ([hundreds of ft-tons] inch acre⁻¹ hr⁻¹ year⁻¹

K = soil erodibility measured under standard unit plot conditions (tons hour [hundreds of ft-tons]⁻¹ in⁻¹)

LS = dimensionless factor representing the effect on erosion of slope length and steepness …