Determining Rainfall Erosivity in Costa Rica
A Practical Approach
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13908440 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Julio Calvo‐Alvarado (0000-0001-9555-6420, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, corresponding author), Julio César Calvo-Alvarado, Cesar Dionisio Jiménez‐Rodríguez (0000-0002-6339-5981, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica), César Dionisio Jiménez-Rodríguez, Vladimir Jiménez-Salazar (0009-0006-4744-9501, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 48-48 |
| Publication date | 2014-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Mountain Research and Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0276-4741 • E-ISSN: 1994-7151 |
| Publisher | International Mountain Society (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.1659/mrd-journal-d-13-00062.1 |
| OpenAlex | W2039869556 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 39 |
Rainfall erosivity (R-factor) is an important variable used in soil erosion estimation models. In Costa Rica, the R-factor was computed for 106 stations across the country by Wilhelm-Gu nther Vahrson in 1990. These results provided the main input information for this study, which used them to estimate the R-factor for Costa Rica. Regression equations were computed to estimate the R-factor for the Caribbean slope, the Pacific slope, and the country as a whole. Forward stepwise analysis and multiple regression analysis were employed to determine the regression coefficients for each developed equation. Elevation and monthly rainfall had a strong influence on the definition of the R-factor equations. The Modified Fournier Index variable was included only in the national-scale equation as a good proxy for the mean annual precipitation effect at each site. Inclusion of elevation in all equations reflects the importance of the transitional effect of high-intensity convective rainfall in the lowlands and lowintensity orographic rainfall in the highlands. This study provides an easy way to estimate the R-factor using regression equations that require only simple and readily available geophysical information. The use of these equations in conjunction with soil and land-use maps as well as digital elevation models will allow the estimation and evaluation of soil erosion on a watershed scale in Costa Rica. This will also improve the application of other hydrological models that require soil erosion as an input variable to estimate sediment yields
Cartography · Digital elevation model · Elevation (ballistics · Erosion · Geography · Geomorphology · Geotechnical engineering · Hydrology (agriculture · Meteorology · Physical geography · Precipitation · Regression · Regression analysis · Remote sensing · Scale (ratio · Sediment · Soil loss · Statistics · Universal Soil Loss Equation · Watershed · Aeolian processes and effects · Computer Science · Environmental Science · Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes · Mathematics · Soil erosion and sediment transport · Geology
| Citations per year | 0.09 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2015 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |