Model of transferability for the rainfall erosivity factor

Empirical models such as the universal soil loss equation (USLE) are used to measure sediment production. Applying the USLE requires determining the rainfall erosivity factor R. This factor is calculated from the EI30 value, which is based on semi-hourly rainfalls that are costly to obtain. In this study, a model for transposing the R factor from regions with semi-hourly rainfall data to regions with only daily rainfall data is proposed. EI30 values were calculated and related to the rainfall coefficient Rc. Potential correlation model was fitted to these data and transposed to a second area within the same climatic region. Observed rainfall data in this area yielded an EI30 of 9937.44 MJ mm ha−1 h−1. The transposed model gave an EI30 of 11,052.04 MJ mm ha−1 h−1. The error is 10.08%, which indicates that the methodology is suitable for estimating erosivity factors for locations that lack semi-hourly rainfall data.