XIN Zhi-yuan, XIA Jian-guo. 2020: Soil erosion calculation in the hydro-fluctuation belt by adding water erosivity factor in the USLE model. Journal of Mountain Science, 17(9): 2123-2135. DOI: 10.1007/s11629-020-6041-3
Citation: XIN Zhi-yuan, XIA Jian-guo. 2020: Soil erosion calculation in the hydro-fluctuation belt by adding water erosivity factor in the USLE model. Journal of Mountain Science, 17(9): 2123-2135. DOI: 10.1007/s11629-020-6041-3

Soil erosion calculation in the hydro-fluctuation belt by adding water erosivity factor in the USLE model

  • Soils in the hydro-fluctuation belts of the reservoirs are most highly influenced by the special hydro-conditions and reservoir operation, leading to unique soil erosion process and largely accelerate soil erosion intensity. The present study aimed to estimate soil erosion rate in the hydro-fluctuation belt of the Pubugou Reservoir, Southwest China, based on the framework of Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). An attempt has been made to modify the original USLE by including the reservoir water erosivity (W), a new factor into the model. Soil erosion rate from different land use types were quantitatively estimated, using the USLE and the modified USLE respectively. Field observation showed that soil erosion rate in dry farmland, bare land and grassland was 4700, 44600 and 5050 t/km2, respectively. The erosion rate assessed by the modified USLE was closely related to that recorded from the field monitoring data. The findings of this study clearly highlight the importance of inclusion of the W factor to the original USLE model while assessing soil erosion in the reservoir hydro-fluctuation belt.
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