Rainfall Erosivity Mapping for West Azerbaijan Province

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Range and Watershed Management, Urmia University

2 Urmia University

3 Department of Soil Science, Urmia University

Abstract

So far, various indices have been proposed for rainfall erosivity, among which (EI30) R in the USLE model is more acceptable. The aim of this study was to determine the rain erosivity index (EI30) in West Azerbaijan province. In order to estimate the mentioned index, regression analysis between this index and some premature indices was used in 13 stations equipped with rain gauge. The EI30 index has the highest correlation with the overall corrected Fournier index (R2 = 0.9). Then, the EI30 index was calculated for 66 paranormal stations with a common statistical period of 20 years (1993-2012). The results showed that the changes in the EI30 index in the province are very high and are in the range of 62.54-230.05 mega Joule millimeters per hectare per hour per year. The highest erosivity was observed in the southwest of the province and the lowest in the northern and eastern regions of the province.

Keywords


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