The USLE-MM, usable to estimate event soil loss from bare plots, has been calibrated at particular experimental sites so far and only a few attempts have been carried out to establish if a generally usable USLE-MM model can be developed. Following the USLE scheme, a model has characteristics of generality if the exponent of the erosivity term does not vary with the site whereas the soil erodibility factor is site-dependent. With reference to three experimental sites in Calabria (Bagnara), Sicily (Sparacia) and Umbria (Masse), the objective of this investigation was to check the usability of a siteindependent exponent of the erosivity term especially for high soil losses prediction. The locally calibrated models performed satisfactorily at all sites, supporting the validity of the USLE-MM to predict soil loss at the event temporal scale. The general worsening of the performances of the single model was expected but it was not substantial. Moreover, the single model performed better than the locally calibrated models for high values of the normalized soil loss (Ae,N > 1 and 10 Mg ha-1). In conclusion, developing a model of the USLE-MM type having an applicability that is not limited to a few experimental sites appears to be a practical possibility.
Testing a single USLE-MM model to predict high soil losses in central and south Italy
Mannocchi F.;Todisco F.;Vergni L.
2017
Abstract
The USLE-MM, usable to estimate event soil loss from bare plots, has been calibrated at particular experimental sites so far and only a few attempts have been carried out to establish if a generally usable USLE-MM model can be developed. Following the USLE scheme, a model has characteristics of generality if the exponent of the erosivity term does not vary with the site whereas the soil erodibility factor is site-dependent. With reference to three experimental sites in Calabria (Bagnara), Sicily (Sparacia) and Umbria (Masse), the objective of this investigation was to check the usability of a siteindependent exponent of the erosivity term especially for high soil losses prediction. The locally calibrated models performed satisfactorily at all sites, supporting the validity of the USLE-MM to predict soil loss at the event temporal scale. The general worsening of the performances of the single model was expected but it was not substantial. Moreover, the single model performed better than the locally calibrated models for high values of the normalized soil loss (Ae,N > 1 and 10 Mg ha-1). In conclusion, developing a model of the USLE-MM type having an applicability that is not limited to a few experimental sites appears to be a practical possibility.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
