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- Title
Determining Rainfall Erosivity in Costa Rica: A Practical Approach.
- Authors
Calvo-Alvarado, Julio César; Jiménez-RodrÍguez, César Dionisio; Jiménez-Salazar, Vladimir
- Abstract
Rainfall erosivity (R-factor) is an important variable used in soil erosion estimation models. In Costa Rica, the R-factor was computed for 106 stations across the country by Wilhelm- Gunther Vahrson in 1990. These results provided the main input information for this study, which used them to estimate the R-factor for Costa Rica. Regression equations were computed to estimate the R-factor for the Caribbean slope, the Pacific slope, and the country as a whole. Forward stepwise analysis and multiple regression analysis were employed to determine the regression coefficients for each developed equation. Elevation and monthly rainfall had a strong influence on the definition of the R-factor equations. The Modified Fournier Index variable was included only in the national-scale equation as a good proxy for the mean annual precipitation effect at each site. Inclusion of elevation in all equations reflects the importance of the transitional effect of high-intensity convective rainfall in the lowlands and lowintensity orographic rainfall in the highlands. This study provides an easy way to estimate the R-factor using regression equations that require only simple and readily available geophysical information. The use of these equations in conjunction with soil and land-use maps as well as digital elevation models will allow the estimation and evaluation of soil erosion on a watershed scale in Costa Rica. This will also improve the application of other hydrological models that require soil erosion as an input variable to estimate sediment yields.
- Subjects
MEASUREMENT of soil erosion; DIGITAL elevation models; UNIVERSAL soil loss equation; REVISED Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE); EFFECT of rainfall on soils; SEDIMENT analysis
- Publication
Mountain Research & Development, 2014, Vol 34, Issue 1, p48
- ISSN
0276-4741
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-13-00062.1