Article
EVALUATION OF THE USLE MODEL TO ESTIMATE WATER EROSION IN AN ALFISOL
Registro en:
J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr. 11 (2): 71 - 84 (2011)
1522-2624
Autor
Olivares, Barlin
Verbist, Koen
Lobo, Deyanira
Silva, Oscar
Institución
Resumen
The USLE model was evaluated to estimate water erosion in an Alfisol located in San
Pedro, Metropolitan Region of Chile. Values of erosivity (R) obtained by using the
Arnoldus approximation (MFI) and equations proposed by the Institute for Nature
Conservation (ICONA) in Spain were adapted to the conditions in Chile. For the
evaluation of soil loss, data were used for each precipitation event causing erosion
during the period 1996-2000, obtained by measurements on experimental plots with
treatments of subsoiling, infiltration trenches and natural prairie. They were compared
with estimated values of erosion in terms of basic statistics and indices based on
variance and regression. In the descriptive and comparative analysis of the selected
equations, it was determined that soil losses estimated with USLE using the equation of
rainfall erosivity by ICONA provided soil loss values which were well-adjusted to the
values recorded in Chile, compared to erosivity calculated by the Arnoldus
approximation (MFI) that overestimated the soil loss values. According to the results or
estimates in this study it was concluded that the USLE model was capable of detecting
the trend of the data, and resulted in estimates consistent with the pattern observed in the field data. Olivares et al 2011. JPNSS Water Center for Arid and Semi-Latin America and the Caribbean (CAZALAC) and Flemish Government,through the IHP – UNESCO Flanders
Trust Fund.