RUSLE soil erosion model structure

Figure Created 25 Oct 2016 Last modified 18 Nov 2016

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The RUSLE is an empirical model that calculates long-term average annual soil loss due to sheet and rill erosion. The model considers six main factors controlling soil erosion: the erosivity of the eroding agents (water), the erodibility of the soil (including stoniness), the slope length and slope steepness of the land, the land cover and management (or human practices designed to control erosion).

https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/rusle-soil-erosion-model-structure/rusle-soil-erosion-model-structure/image_large

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Metadata

Temporal coverage:: 2015
Tags:: climate change , rusle , soil erosion , soil
Geographic coverage:: Austria , Belgium , Bulgaria , Croatia , Cyprus , Czechia , Denmark , Estonia , Finland , France , Germany , Greece , Hungary , Ireland , Italy , Latvia , Liechtenstein , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Malta , Netherlands , Poland , Portugal , Romania , Slovakia , Slovenia , Spain , Sweden , United Kingdom
Rights:: EEA standard re-use policy: unless otherwise indicated, re-use of content on the EEA website for commercial or non-commercial purposes is permitted free of charge, provided that the source is acknowledged (https://www.eea.europa.eu/legal/copyright). Copyright holder: Joint Research Centre (JRC).
Owners:: Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Figure type:: Graph

Additional information

The soil erosion indicator is comprised of two sub-indicators. The first one is a cell-based map that estimates the rate of soil erosion by water in tonnes per hectare per year for cells of 100 by 100 m for the EU. The second one is a cell-based map that estimates the wind erosion rates in tonnes per hectare per year for cells of c. 1 by 1 km for EU Member States. Both indicators are predicted estimates rather than actual values.

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Based on data

The new assessment of soil loss by water erosion in Europe Soil erosion by water is one of the major threats to soils in the European Union, with a negative impact on ecosystem services, crop production, drinking water and carbon stocks. The European Commission's Soil Thematic Strategy has identified soil erosion as a relevant issue for the European Union, and has proposed an approach to monitor soil erosion. This paper presents the application of a modified version of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model (RUSLE2015) to estimate soil loss in Europe for the reference year 2010, within which the input factors (Rainfall erosivity, Soil erodibility, Cover-Management, Topography, Support practices) are modelled with the most recently available pan-European datasets. While RUSLE has been used before in Europe, RUSLE2015 improves the quality of estimation by introducing updated (2010), high-resolution (100 m), peer-reviewed input layers. The mean soil loss rate in the European Union's erosion-prone lands (agricultural, forests and semi-natural areas) was found to be 2.46 t ha −1 yr −1 , resulting in a total soil loss of 970 Mt annually.

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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/rusle-soil-erosion-model-structure or scan the QR code.

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