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Relating Rainfall Erosivity Factors to Soil Loss in Kenya
Author(s) -
Ulsaker L. G.,
Onstad C. A.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1984.03615995004800040038x
Subject(s) - hectare , soil loss , storm , environmental science , surface runoff , universal soil loss equation , hydrology (agriculture) , erosion , soil conservation , water erosion , tonne , alfisol , soil science , soil water , geography , meteorology , geology , agriculture , ecology , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , biology
Runoff plots were established on a representative soil site in Kenya in 1980 to evaluate soil and water losses as influenced by climate, soil, and management practices. Fifteen erosivity factors were regressed to ascertain best fit on the soil loss from 3 fallowed plots for each of 35 storms between March 1982 and April 1983. Two of the best rainfall erosivity factors with their respective coefficients of determination are: total kinetic energy times maximum 30‐min intensity ( EI 30 ), r 2 = 0.69, and rainfall amount times the maximum 30‐min intensity ( AI 30 ), r 2 = 0.72. A regression equation was developed relating EI 30 to rainfall amount, A . The coefficient of determination was 0.902. Soil erodibility for this Alfisol was found to be 0.0314 tonne hectare hour per hectare megajoule millimeter or 0.24 in customary English units. Erodibility factor values ranged from 0.07 for storms producing soil losses less than 1 t/ha to 0.55 for storms producing soil losses greater than 10 t/ha.