Soil erodibility (Km) values for some Australian soils

Abstract

This paper reports calculated soil erodibility (K_m) values for the universal soil loss equation (USLE) for a range of surface soils, and for some subsoils. The calculation of erodibility values was based on laboratory measurements of water-stable sizes at the soil surface following wetting by rain and on the wet density of coarse sediment. Also included are erodibility data derived from field studies of erosion for 5 soils from New South Wales and Queensland. The erodibility values obtained indicate reasonable consistency in erodibility values for Vertosols and Ferrosols, but considerable variation in the erodibility of soils lower in clay.

Soil factors best correlated with the calculated K_m factors were identified, and the potential to use such information to estimate K_m factors was evaluated.