4/19/2011 

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by Gandhiv Kafle  1 

EROSION PROCESS
AND MONITORING
Gandhiv Kafle
Lecturer, IOF, Hetauda
www.gandhiv.co.cc

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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Outline
• Erosivity
• Erodibility
• Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)

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WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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• R- erosivity factor
• K- erodibility factor
• L- slope length factor
• S- slope steepness factor
• C- cover-management factor
• P- supporting practices factor

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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Rainfall erosivity – R factor

• Erosive potential of rain
• R = ΣEI
• E is the Energy in the Rainfall
• I is the maximum half-hour rainfall intensity for the storm.
• EI values represent ‘Rainfall Erosion Index’.
• R varies with the climate at a particular location.

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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Example: EROSIVITY - R
Measure of erosivity of climate at a location in USA 

Las Vegas, NV 8
Phoenix, AZ 22
Denver, CO 40
Syracuse, NY 80
Minneapolis, MN 110
Chicago, IL 140
Richmond, VA 200
St. Louis, MO 210
Dallas, TX 275
Birmingham, AL 350
Charleston, SC 400
New Orleans, LA 700

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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Soil Erodibility Factor - K

• Measures susceptibility of soil to both

detachment and transportation (erosion)

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WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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Soil Erodibility Factor - K

• Measure of soil erodibility under standard unit plot
condition
• 72.6 ft long, 9% steep, tilled continuous fallow, up and down hill
tillage

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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Soil Erodibility Factor - K

• Independent of management
• Major factors
• Texture, organic matter, structure, permeability

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WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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Nomograph
• Nomograph is used to measure the erodibility factor of the
soil.
• Next page

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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Changes in RUSLE
• R factor
• RUSLE computes a
correction to R to reflect
the effect of raindrop
impact for flat slopes
striking water ponded on
the surface.
• K factor
• Adjusted to account for
seasonal changes such
as freezing and thawing,
soil moisture, and soil
consolidation.
• USLE was based on soil
texture, organic-matter
content, permeability,
and other factors
inherent to soil type.

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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• LS factor
• Refines USLE by
assigning new
calculations based on
the ratio of rill to
interrill erosion, and
accommodates
complex slopes.

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WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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C factor
• RUSLE
• Uses the subfactors: prior
• USLE
land use, canopy cover,
• Based on cropping surface cover, surface
sequence, surface roughness, and soil
residue, surface moisture.
roughness, and • RUSLE provides improved
canopy cover, with are estimates of soil loss
weighted by the changes as they occur
throughout the year,
percentage of erosive especially relating to
rainfall during the six surface and near-surface
crop stages. residue and the effects of
climate on residue
decomposition.

WME 508: Soil and water conservation engineering ‐ by 
Gandhiv Kafle 
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P factor
• USLE • RUSLE
• Based on installation of • P factor values are based
practices that slow runoff on hydrologic soil groups,
and thus reduce soil slope, row grade, ridge
movement. • height, and the 10-year
single storm erosion index
value.
• RUSLE computes the
effect of strip cropping
based on the transport
capacity of flow in dense
strips relative to the
amount of sediment
reaching the strip.

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