ABSTRACT The Cerrado is a vegetation complex with a wide variety of phytophysiognomies, and sustainable management is essential for maintaining biodiversity. Morphopedology is a tool that can assist in developing plans for control of soil and land use, especially in evaluating the potential of soil erosion processes. This technique allows landscape units considered “homogeneous” to be distinguished, as a result of interaction between physiographic conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate potential for erosion in São Miguel do […]

In tropical regions, the damage caused to soil by rainwater, i.e., soil erosion, is the most significant form of soil degradation. In Brazil, eucalyptus plantations are mainly located in ecosystems sensitive to anthropogenic disturbances for reasons such as the occurrence of plantations in soils with low clay contents, soils with low natural fertility, and most plantations being established on areas previously occupied by agriculture or by degraded pastures. Thus, the need arises for understanding the processes that control water erosion […]

The study of temporal distribution of rainfall is carried out to characterize the most frequent rainfall patterns. Knowledge of the physical characteristics of rainfall in relation to rainfall patterns allows mathematical modeling to be performed in regard to hydrologic events more nearly approaching real conditions. The objective of this study was to characterize the erosive rains from the municipality of Urussanga, SC, Brazil in regard to hydrological patterns of temporal distribution. Rainfall records from the meteorological station of Urussanga (28.31° […]

Knowledge of the erosive potential of rainfall and its distribution throughout the year contribute to planning management and soil conservation practices that aim to reduce water erosion, decreasing soil loss and increasing crop yields. The goal of this study is to characterize rainfall in the region of Urussanga, SC, Brazil, in relation to its erosive potential, determining monthly and annual Erosivity Indices (EI30), thus establishing the R factor to use in the Universal Soil Loss Equation. In addition, the goal […]

Surface roughness is a relevant soil property in terms of its influence on soil water infiltration and storage, sediment retention on the soil surface, and water erosion. In turn, surface roughness is influenced by soil tillage, moisture, compaction, crop residues, residual effects of land use, and by rainfall erosivity. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of soil tillage type, soil compaction and rainfall erosivity on surface roughness. The experiment assessed an Inceptsol with a relatively flat […]

Specific rainfall characteristics vary among regions and their erosion potential must be known for the planning of agricultural and civil engineering activities. For Rio Grande (RS, Brazil), the erosivity and relationships with the precipitation and rainfall coefficient, rainfall hydrologic patterns and return period were determined based on rainfall data of 23 years. For each erosive rainfall the segments of the rainfall chart with the same intensity were separated together and the data registered in worksheets. The mean monthly and annual […]

Mathematical models for soil erosion prediction are of unquestionable validity for planning the use of agricultural soils. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is an example of such models and estimates the expected annual mean losses of soil in a given site and for a given management system based on the parameters: rain erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), slope length (L), steepness (S), soil cover and management (C), and conservation practices (P). With the objective of contributing to conservation planning […]

A set of 874 erosive individual rainfall occurrences was selected from a continuous serie of twenty-three years of recording rain gauge data. All the selected rainfall occurrences were analized. The rainfall erosivity factor computed was 7074 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 y-1, which is expected to occur at least once every 2.33 years, with a probability of occurrence of 42.92%. The values of the annual erosivity indexes at that site expected for the return periods of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 years, were respectively 6,696, 8,730, 10,076, […]