Database of rainfall erosivity factor for 141 locations in Brazil.

Abstract

Soil erosion is a serious agricultural and environmental problem considered as a threat to sustainable development around the world. Rainfall is the primary cause of soil erosion, what leads the knowledge of its potential to cause soil erosion (rainfall erosivity – R-factor) to be a valuable tool for the design of land conservation best practices. As Brazil has a lack of information about rainfall erosivity, the present paper has determined the R-factor of 141 pluviographic stations distributed over Brazilian territory. Initially, erosive rainfalls were identified, and then the EI30 erosivity index was used to obtain the rainfall erosivity values. Regression models for the estimation of rainfall erosivity using daily rainfall data were established based on the correlation between the monthly average values of erosivity and the modified Fournier index. Results showed that the annual rainfall erosivity in the Brazilian stations analyzed ranged from 368.7 to 16,850.6 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1. The results presented help to expand information about the spatial distribution of rainfall erosivity in Brazil, contributing to better conservation planning of land use.