Excerpt
EROSION prediction is a powerful tool used by soil conservationists for almost five decades. The value of erosion prediction was recognized almost immediately after A. W. Zingg (22) in 1940 published his erosion equation that calculated sheet and rill erosion as a function of slope length and steepness. Soon, factors for the effects of climatic crosivity, cropping, and management were added (17) to Zingg's equation, and the concept of a soil loss tolerance was introduced.
The universal soil loss equation
Although several erosion equations have been developed, the most popular one by far is the universal soil loss equation (USLE) developed by W. H. Wischmeier and his associates for sheet and rill erosion (19). A similar equation for predicting erosion by wind, the wind erosion equation (WEQ), was published in 1965 by N. P. Woodruff and F. H. Sidoway (21). These equations are used almost exclusively by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and other user agencies to estimate soil erosion rates needed to plan conservation practices, inventory and assess erosion, and develop and implement soil conservation policy. These equations also are used widely in countries other than the United States.
A historical perspective …
Footnotes
George R. Foster is a professor and head, Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, 55108. This article is published as Paper No. 18,422 of the scientific journal series of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station on research conducted under Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Project No. 12-055.
- Copyright 1991 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society