The future of RUSLE: Inside the new Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation

ABSTRACT: The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) has been the tool of choice for erosion prediction and conservation planning, but is being replaced by a more accurate and flexible USDA-ARS Revised USLE (RUSLE). This technology is available as RUSLE 1.04 software from the Soil and Water Conservation Society. RUSLE 1.04 has weaknesses, primarily related to its USLE-like structure. A new version (RUSLE 2) corrects these and provides a friendlier state-of-the-art interface. This allows better erosion science, permits faster calculations, and lets users with diferent languages and measurement units share billslope descriptions. A first release is planned for mid-1996.