FRESHWATER METADATA JOURNAL

Title

Metadata of a soil loss map to assess sediment delivery ratios of European river catchments

Author(s)

Andreas Gericke

Abstract

Various pan-European datasets and published empirical relationships were used to approximate 5 factors of the universal soil loss equation (USLE, Table 1 in the related publication). Different approaches for C and R were applied to consider different environmental conditions in northern and southern Europe (Gericke 2015, Fig. 1). This soil-loss map (see Appendix) is the product of these factors: E = R.C.K.L.S with L - slope-length factor, derived from the global SRTM digital elevation model (Jarvis et al. 2008) S - slope angle, calculated from SRTM R - rainfall and runoff factor, taken from long-term average annual precipitation for European catchments (Vogt et al. 2007) C - vegetation cover, derived from European and global data on land use and land cover (Corine Land Cover 2006, GlobCover v2.2) (European Environment Agency 2010, 2010a, 2010b, European Space Agency 2008) K - soil erodibility, derived from the European Soil Database (European Commission & European Soil Bureau Network 2004) The unit of E is tons/hectare. The spatial resolution of the gridded dataset (100 metres) was determined by the digital elevation model and the land use data. In the related publication (Gericke 2015), this map was named "2kbc". It was compared to other realisations and found to be most suitable to explain the spatial variability of suspended-solids yields and sediment delivery ratios (SDR) of river catchments in various European regions. This map can be used in regional to continental studies to obtain regional sediment delivery ratios or to estimate sediment yields of large river catchments. Users of this map should keep in mind the inherent limitations of the USLE and sediment yields, as well as the accuracy of the underlying datasets when assessing results. Please note that none of the alternative maps in the related study was found to optimally predict SDR and sediment yields everywhere.

Keywords

soil loss, universal soil loss equation

How to cite this article

Gericke A., 2017. Metadata of a soil loss map to assess sediment delivery ratios of European river catchments. Freshwater Metadata Journal 20: 1-6. https://doi.org/10.15504/fmj.2017.20