General soil erosion equation

With the help of the general soil erosion equation (ABAG), the expected mean annual soil erosion of an area by water erosion can be determined as an estimate.

The general soil erosion equation is:

{\ displaystyle A = R \ cdot K \ cdot L \ cdot S \ cdot C \ cdot P}

With

A : Long-term, mean annual soil erosion [t / ha / a] as the size to be calculated
R : Erosivity factor (also: rain and surface runoff factor) [kJ / m² · mm / h / a] or [N / h / a]; expresses the detachment and transport forces acting on the ground.
K : Soil erodibility factor [(t / ha) / (kJ / m² · mm / h)] or [(t / ha) / (N / h)]; Measure of the sensitivity (erodibility) of a soil under standard conditions , d. h .: slope length = 22 m; Slope = 9%; vegetative ground cover: none; Fallow land ready for seedbed.
L : Slope length factor [-] as the ratio of the soil removal from a slope of any length to soil removal with a standard slope length (see factor K ).
S : Slope factor [-] as the ratio of the soil erosion from an arbitrarily inclined slope to soil erosion with standard slope inclination (see factor K ).
C : Soil cover and tillage factor [-] as the ratio of soil erosion when certain crops are cultivated / crop rotations to soil erosion under standard conditions (see factor K ).
P : Erosion protection factor [-] as the ratio of soil erosion when certain erosion control measures are applied to soil erosion without erosion protection and with soil cultivation in the direction of the slope.

If there is no value for one factor, a 1 is set in its place; it is therefore not included in the calculation. Accordingly, the data situation must be taken into account when looking at deletions.

The ABAG is the transfer of the American equations USLE (Universal soil loss equation) and the newer, revised variant, the RUSLE (Revised USLE), to European conditions by Schwertmann , Vogl and Kainz , 1987. Many free and commercial software versions use the USLE for Modeling of water erosion during precipitation events. The calculation of the contract with the ABAG can be based on GIS ( Geographical Information Systems (GIS)). In the simplest version, each factor is stored in a layer. The layers are multiplied in the GIS and displayed graphically, for example in the Erosion Atlas for Bavaria (first developed in 1986, since then revised several times). However, advanced GIS versions also make it possible to take into account the effect of the areas uphill and thus calculate the erosion with high resolution.

literature

Blume, H.-P. (Ed.): Manual of soil protection. Soil ecology and pollution. Preventive and defensive protective measures. Landsberg am Lech 2004, pp. 225-226, Ecomed Verlag, ISBN 3-609-65853-3 .
Schwertmann, U. & Vogl, W .: Soil erosion by water - prediction of erosion and evaluation of countermeasures (PDF; 5.2 MB) . Stuttgart 1987, Ulmer-Verlag, ISBN 3-8001-3081-5 .

Individual evidence

↑ Erosion Atlas Bavaria. Retrieved November 30, 2016 .

[1] Erosion Atlas Bavaria. Retrieved November 30, 2016 .