MUSLE {VFS}

Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation

Description

Simulation of soil erosion on a daily timestep.

Usage

MUSLE(Q, qp, A, K, LS, C = 0.085, P = 0.40, a = 11.8, b = 0.56)

Arguments

Q

Runoff volume (m^3/d).

qp

Runoff peak discharge (m^3/s).

A

Field area (ha).

K

Soil erodibility factor.

LS

Landscape factor.

C

Crop management factor. Default is for a corn field.

P

Erosion control practice factor.

a

Location coefficient. Default value from Williams 1975.

b

Location coefficient. Default value from Williams 1975.

Details

Uses the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation to estimate daily sediment yield. If K and LS are not known, they can be estimated from soil or field properties using MUSLE.K and MUSLE.LS.

If the location coefficients are known from measured sedimentation data, more accurate estimates can be made.

Value

Sediment yield (t/day).

Author(s)

Sarah Goslee

References

Williams, J. R. (1975) Sediment-yield prediction with universal equation using runoff energy factor. Pp. 244–251 in: Present and prospective technology for predicting sediment yield and sources. ARS.S-40, US Gov. Print. Office, Washington, DC. 244-252.

Wischmeier, W. H. and Smith, D. D. (1978) Predicting rainfall erosion losses-a guide to conservation planning. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook No. 537.

See Also

MUSLE.K, MUSLE.LS, peak

Examples

# Approximate erodibility factor from soil texture.
Kf <- MUSLE.K(.3, .5, .2)

# Calculate landscape factor from field size and shape.
# 100-m field length with 2% slope
# note that MUSLE.LS takes feet
LS <- MUSLE.LS(100 * 3.28, .02)

# assume 0.4 ha cornfield with known rainfall intensity
peakd <- peak(intensity = 55, area = 0.4)

SedYield <- MUSLE(85, qp = peakd, A = .4, K = Kf, LS = LS)