Evaluate potential soil loss under varying slope configurations, vegetation cover, and management practices reclamation plan, phc evaluation. Aug 01, 2019 recent trends in the suspended sediment loads of the worlds rivers. Assessing soil erosion risk using rusle through a gis open source. The soil loss value generated from the usle equation is used to determine the soil. Rusle revised universal soil loss equation model is only ones of many modifaction of usle, especialy for more complex situations of rill and interrill erosion in conservation planning and land uses. Rusle2 is derived from previous dos rusle software, and is based on the widelyused revised universal soil loss equation rusle. I am using arc hyrdo for the first time in order to create a map using the revised universal soil loss equation. Smith, has been the most widely accepted and utilized soil loss equation for over 30 years.
This study start with a digital elevation model dem of shaanxi, which was created by digitizing contour and spot heights from the topographic map on 1. The geographic information systembased gisbased methods which have been developed for estimating the slope length for usle and rusle model also have limitations. Soil erosion prediction using rusle for central kenyan. The universal soil loss equation usle and the revised universal soil loss equation rusle 1. Rusle online revised universal soil loss equation rusle, an online tool for soil erosion assessment and conservation planning. Rusle was developed in 1987 by the nrcs, and is based on the earlier usle published by the scs in 1978. Estimation of soil loss using rusle model for sebou watershed.
These models often contain some modification of the universal soil loss equation usle. The revised universal soil loss equation rusle is an update to agricultural handbook no. You might try searching on revised universal soil loss equation rusle and. A recently initiated effort to improve usle technology has produced a computerbased model, rusle revised usle, which employs new relationships to estimate values of the six factors in the equation. When compared to a manual method, both methods yield broadly similar results in terms of relative erosion risk mapping.
The value approximates the difference between the usle soil loss and the sediment discharge from rusle version 2. Rusle is an empirically based model, founded on the universal soil loss equation usle. Revised universal soil loss equation, version 2 rusle2 rusle2 is a program used to evaluate potential erosion rates at specific sites as well as guide conservation and erosion control planning. I have a slope raster spatial dataset and want to calculate the rusle equations s value. Extension of a gis procedure for calculating the rusle. However, the usdanatural resources conservation service nrcs has developed extensive data files on a wide range of vegetation and operations. Rusle is an improved formula, that can handle more complex combinations of tillage and cropping practices and a greater variety of slopes.
Universal soil loss equation musle in a geographic information system gis. Rusle2s objectoriented, windows interface allows dramatic scientific and graphical advances. There is a computerized version of the usle equation, named revised universal soil loss equation. The usle universal soil loss equation, released in the early 1960s, is an indexbased, empirically derived equation limited in its application to conditions where experimental data are available for deriving factor values. A gis procedure for automatically calculating the usle ls. Rusle is designed for use at the runoff plot or single hillslope scales. The universal soil loss equation usle proposed by wischmeier and. The first version of rusle1, a software program designed to operate in a dosbased computer. The usle is only capable of estimating a longterm average annual erosion rate. A furtherenhanced version the software is rusle2, which can do eventbased erosion prediction. It developed from the universal soil loss equation usle developed in the us department of agriculture and has other similar variants such as the.
The universal soil loss equation usle and revised usle rusle are often used to estimate soil erosion at regional landscape scales, however a major limitation is the difficulty in extracting the ls factor. The most commonly used supporting cropland practices are crossslope cultivation, contour farming and strip cropping table 5. These equations, originally developed to predict soil loss or movement from agricultural fields, but since expanded to include forestlands and rangelands, are instructional because. Erosion prediction revised universal soil loss equation. The vegetation and operation files can also be modified and expanded to provide data specifically tailored to your needs. Rusle method uses the same equation as usle but includes several. Note that the unit in this example is tonhectareper year. Revised universal soil loss equation rusle new york standards and specifications page a.
It is derived from soil data contained in the australian soil resource information system asris, and is intended for predicting long term average annual hillslope erosion rates across queensland. Estimating soil erosion from water with the revised universal soil loss equation rusle the revised universal soil loss equation rusle is an improved version of the usle model that has been used to predict soil loss by water erosion. A computer algorithm to calculate the usle and rusle lsfactors over a twodimensional landscape is presented. Additional research, experiments and data have led to the development of the revised universal soil loss equation rusle, which is a computerized version of usle. Rusle ls factor geographic information systems stack. Dry, wet, and verywet rainfall simulation treatments were applied to the study plots within a 2day period. Soil erosion modeled with usle, gis, and remote sensing. Rusle retains the equation structure of usle, but each of its factor relationships has been either updated with recent data, or new. Rusle also includes the analysis of research data that were unavailable when agricultural handbook 537 was completed. The usdaagricultural research service ars is the lead agency for developing the rusle2 model. This series contains input datasets used in the revised universal soil loss equation rusle. To estimate soil erosion in the study area, we adopted the revised universal loss equation rusle defined by renard et al.
The revised universal soil loss equation rusle renard, et al. P is the factor that represents management operations and. If a sediment control practice is specified, then the soil discharge is further. How to calculate erodibility factor k of soil using williams equation and fao soil in arcmap duration. Universal soil loss equation usle the usle, developed by ars scientists w.
There is a computerized version of the usle equation, named revised universal soil loss equation rusle. It is the only version of rusle2 to be used for official purposes by nrcs field offices. Revised universal soil loss equation, version 2 rusle2 ag. These erosion prediction technologies, which are referred to as erosion models, are widely used to estimate rates of soil erosion caused by rainfall and associated overland flow. This paper describes the use of the arcinfo and arcview gis tools to estimate soil erosion with universal soil loss equation usle. Apr 26, 2018 there is a computerized version of the usle equation, named revised universal soil loss equation. Designed as a method to predict average annual soil loss caused by sheet and rill erosion, the usle is often criticized for its lack of applications. For detailed instructions on installing rusle2, download. When raster layers depicting elevation, land cover, and soil erodibility were coarsened in resolution, sediment load estimates differed by two orders of magnitude. The basic form of the equation has remained the same, but modifications in several of the factors have been made.
This is mainly due to the simple, robust form of the equations as well as their success in predicting the average, long. Evaluation of usle and rusle estimated soil on rangeland. A furtherenhanced version of the software, known as rusle2, can do. Erosive forces include raindrop impact and surface runoff from rainfall. The ikkour watershed located in the middle atlas mountain morocco has been a subject of serious soil erosion problems. Is there any software available to analyse the soil erosion due to. Rusle2 is an upgrade of the textbased rusle dos version 1. Rusle2is new, advanced erosion prediction technology that uses the familiar usle empirical structure proven by more than five decades of use in the universal soil loss equation usle and rusle1. Soils universal soil loss equation series datasets open. Application of gis to estimate soil erosion using rusle. Universal soil loss equation and revised universal soil loss equation 9 include any impact either erosion or deposition of the concentrated flow channels that form in the natural swales at the bottom of the roughly planar hillslopes, and certainly did not address classical gullying processes that often occur at steep bound. By the help of raster calculator tool of the spatial analyst extension of arcgis software.
Pdf modeling soil erosion using rusle and gis tools. A r k ls c p where a estimated average soil loss in tons per acre per year r rainfallrunoff erosivity factor k soil erodibility factor l slope length factor s slope steepness factor c. For detailed instructions on installing rusle2, download the. The revised universal soil loss equation rusle is an empirical erosion model recognised as a standard. Method factsheet rusle revised universal soil loss. Revised universal soil loss equation an overview sciencedirect.
Soil science society of america, soil science society of america journal, 69, pp. Rusle2 has evolved from a series of previous erosion prediction technologies. Surfer 11 software shows that the minimum soil loss is typical for local slopes. Revised universal soil loss equation rusle original purpose was for agricultural activities as a result of the dust bowl era certain other adjustments made for construction activities. This is mainly due to the simple, robust form of the equations as well as their. Wischmeier and smith, 1978, but is more diverse and includes databases unavailable when the usle was developed renard et al. Usle universal soil loss equation the universal soil loss equation for construction sites excel worksheet was developed by dane county water resource engineering to estimate soil loss from sheet and rill erosion on construction sites. The revised universal soil loss equation rusle is an empirical erosion model recognised as a standard method to calculate the average risk of erosion on arable land. It also provides economic information about fuel use and costs for specific crop management systems. Revised universal soil loss equation, version 2 rusle2. Equation usle developed in the us department of agriculture and has other similar. If a sediment control practice is specified, then the soil discharge is further reduced relative to the efficiency of the practice.
Modern erosion and computer science is used in rusle2 to greatly extend the basic usle structure. This study aimed to assess the soil erosion susceptibility in this mountainous watershed using universal soil loss equation usle and spectral indices integrated with geographic information system gis environment. More recently, the revised universal soil loss equation rusle has been developed. Although both methods yield similar slope values, the use of the manual method leads to an. The geographic information systembased gisbased methods which have been developed for estimating the ls factor for usle and rusle also have limitations. It is a computer model containing both empirical and processbased science in a windows environment that predicts rill and interrill erosion by rainfall and runoff. The limitations of rusle are that it only accounts for soil loss through sheet. Rusle model description and database sensitivity pubag. Revised universal soil loss equation rusle welcome to rusle 1 and rusle 2. The revised universal soil loss equation rusle is an easily and widely used computer program that estimates rates of soil erosion caused by rainfall and associated overland flow. The universal soil loss equation usle is a widely used mathematical model that describes. Revised universal soil loss equation rusle, an online tool for soil erosion assessment and conservation planning.
Universal soil loss equation usle a r x k x ls x c x p k is the soil erodibility factor table 2. Rusle has the same formula as usle, with improvements in many of the factor estimates. Department of agriculture usdaagricultural research service ars site for both rusle1. Despite their shortcomings and limitations the universal soil loss equation usle wischmeier and smith, 1978 and revised universal soil loss equation rusle renard et al. However, there appear to be important differences in absolute values. Method factsheet rusle revised universal soil loss equation. The universal soil loss equation usle is a widely used mathematical model that describes soil erosion processes erosion models play critical roles in soil and water resource conservation and nonpoint source pollution assessments, including. Rusle, previously the universal soil loss equation usle, was developed to estimate average annual soil loss from agricultural fields. Estimating the ls factor for rusle through iterative slope length processing of digital elevation data.
Rusle revised universal soil loss equation, version 2 rusle2 web site html rusles is a windows based software tool and computer model to predicts. In this study, the lsfactor was computed using the arcgis raster calculator tool. Integrated universal soil loss equation usle and geographical. Although the original universal soil loss equation usle has been retained in rusle, the technology for factor evaluation has been altered and new data have been introduced with which to evaluate the terms for specified conditions. Integration of modified universal soil loss equation musle core.
The equation reliably predicts soil loss on an annual basis, but there is a need to be able to accurately. Soils universal soil loss equation series datasets. Revised universal soil loss equation rusle welcome to. While the usle is a relatively simple equation to use, rusle2 overcomes a number of the usles limitations. We implemented a gis version of rusle for the upper little tennessee river basin in macon county, north carolina. Musle into a gis environment to assess soil erosion risk. The challenge is that for values with slope gradient 9% i have to apply the following equation. It is not directly used in rusle equation, but is often used along with rusle for conservation planning. A major revision of rusle, known as rusle2 is in progress.
The rusle is a revision of the universal soil loss equation usle which was originally developed to predict erosion on croplands in the us. Calculations are be done by using capabilities available. Recent trends in the suspended sediment loads of the worlds rivers. Universal soil loss equation and revised universal soil loss equation 9 include any impact either erosion or deposition. This site contains the official nrcs version of rusle2. Instructions for installing rusle2 for detailed instructions on installing rusle2, download the following file in adobe acrobat format. The process of water erosion has been described by the usda universal soil loss equation usle, later modified to the revised universal soil loss equation rusle. It does not predict soil loss resulting from gully erosion. Revised universal soil loss equation, version 2 rusle2 official nrcs rusle2 program. Mushtak talib jabbarapplication of gis to estimate soil erosion using rusle 37 fig.
The nrcs developed and maintains the database components on this site. Soil erosion modeling using gis and rusle on the eurajoki watershed finland gossa wordofa. Rusle has the basic structure of the usle but several improvements in the determining factors. The original purpose of the usle was to calculate soil erosion on cultivated land with. The revised universal soil loss equation rusle replaces the universal soil loss equation usle for predicting soil loss from interrill sheet and rill erosion caused by rainfall and associated overland flow. Rusle2 can estimate longterm average seasonal, even daily, erosion rates. It developed from the universal soil loss equation usle developed in the us department of. Alternative approaches for determining the uslem slope length factor for grid cells. Soil loss tolerance t is the maximum amount of soil loss in tons per acre per year, that can be tolerated and still permit a high level of crop productivity to be sustained economically and indefinitely. The revised universal soil loss equation rusle and the modified universal soil loss equation musle. Usle is an empirical equation that estimates the average annual soil loss caused by sheet and rill erosion.
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