Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
RUSLE
Soil loss estimation
Defined by user for
specific field/management/
conservation practice
Data files are general
defined by user
R
Climate
City
database
K
Soil
LS
Topography
Crop
database
C
Cover-management
Operation
database
P
Conservation
practice
A
Soil
estimate
Fig. 8.1
RUSLE1 software flow chart
(from AH703).
USLE to agricultural settings, as described in some
detail below. The new AH703 development took
an appreciable amount of effort involving scien-
tists and engineers with experience in areas of
knowledge representing each factor. It also
involved a significant amount of testing by SCS-
NRCS personnel in various locations, each having
specific expertise in the crops, soils and climates
involved. The DOS program developed for the
1997 RUSLE1 version permitted English unit
calculations only. To input or output metric units
required hand conversions of individual factor
values using conversion factors (Foster
et al
., 1981)
which were included in Appendix B of AH703.
Another change in the RUSLE1 approach was
to begin grouping the expanded list of required
user inputs into a crude database, defined as
shown in Fig. 8.1. This allowed for saving and
re-use of sets of inputs corresponding to, for exam-
ple, a specific location. In addition to the com-
puterization of the model, every USLE factor
underwent significant changes in moving to
RUSLE1. These changes are generally described
in the paragraphs that follow.
