Support Practices factor (P-factor) for the EU

This GIS map (2015) represents the "Support Practices factor" (P-factor) for the EU. At European level, the effect of support practices (compulsory for farmers to receive incentives under the CAP-GAEC) on soil loss were assessed by P-factor estimation taking into account a) contour farming b) maintenance of stone walls and c) grass margins. Resolution 1km.
Support Practices factor (P-factor) for the EU
Resource Type: 
Datasets
Soil Threats Data
Registration is requested: 
Yes
Publisher: 
European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Year: 
2015
Themes: 
Erosion by water
Erosion by water›Support Practices Factor

Metadata:

Title: Support practices (P-factor) factor on the reduction of soil erosion by water at European Scale.
Description: At European level, the effect of support practices (compulsory for farmers to receive incentives under the CAP-GAEC) on soil loss were assessed by P-factor estimation taking into account a) contour farming b) maintenance of stone walls and c) grass margins.
Spatial coverage: European Union (28 Countries)
Pixel size: 1 Km
Measurement Unit: Dimensionless
Projection: ETRS89 Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area
Temporal coverage: 2010, 2016

P-factor in Europe

The mean P-factor considering contour farming, stone walls and grass margins in the European Union is estimated at 0.9702. The support practices accounted for in the P-factor reduce the risk of soil erosion by 3%, with grass margins having the largest impact (57% of the total erosion risk reduction) followed by stone walls (38%). Contour farming contributes very little to the P-factor given its limited application; it is only used as a support practice in eight countries and only on very steep slopes. Support practices have the highest impact in Malta, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Netherlands and United Kingdom where they reduce soil erosion risk by at least 5%. The P-factor modelling tool can potentially be used by policy makers to run soil-erosion risk scenarios for a wider application of contour farming in areas with slope gradients less than 10%, maintaining stone walls and increasing the number of grass margins under the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Note: An update of the soil erosion indicator took place for the year 2016 and the results have been published in the paper A Soil Erosion Indicator for Supporting Agricultural, Environmental and Climate Policies in the European Union.

Data

The P-factor dataset is in Raster format. The public user can download 2 datasets :
- Support practice factor (P-factor) in the European Union at 1km resolution
- Mean P-factor at regional (NUTS2) level in the European Union

To get access to the data, please compile the Request form. More information about Support Practices in the corresponding section.

References

A complete description of the methodology and the application in Europe is described in the paper:
Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Meusburger, K., van der Zanden, E.H., Poesen, J., Alewell, C. 2015. Modelling the effect of support practices (P-factor) on the reduction of soil erosion by water at European Scale. Environmental Science & Policy, 51: 23-34.

Panagos, P., Ballabio, C., Poesen, J., Lugato, E., Scarpa, S., Montanarella, L., Borrelli, P. 2020. A Soil Erosion Indicator for Supporting Agricultural, Environmental and Climate Policies in the European Union. Remote Sensing. 12: 1365. DOI: 10.3390/rs12091365

P-factor in Europe

 

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For any problem / question / comment on this dataset, please contact ec-esdac@ec.europa.eu

Notification:

  1. The data provided has been prepared for use by internal research activities in the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in the context of developing the new Soil Loss Map of Europe .
  2. The data were developed for research purposes of the JRC (European Commission). The JRC does not accept any liability whatsoever for any error, missing data or omission in the data, or for any loss or damage arising from its use. The JRC agrees to provide the data free of charge but is not bound to justify the content and values contained in the databases.
  3. The permission to use the data specified above is granted on condition that, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are these data passed to third parties. They can be used for any purpose, including commercial gain.
  4. The user agrees to:
       a) Make proper reference to the source of the data when disseminating the results to which this agreement relates;
       b) Participate in the verification of the data (e.g. by noting and reporting any errors or omissions discovered to the JRC).

Reference of source (Citations) :

Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Meusburger, K., van der Zanden, E.H., Poesen, J., Alewell, C. 2015. Modelling the effect of support practices (P-factor) on the reduction of soil erosion by water at European Scale.. . Environmental Science & Policy, 51: 23-34.

Panagos, P., Ballabio, C., Poesen, J., Lugato, E., Scarpa, S., Montanarella, L., Borrelli, P. 2020. A Soil Erosion Indicator for Supporting Agricultural, Environmental and Climate Policies in the European Union. Remote Sensing. 12: 1365. DOI: 10.3390/rs12091365

When making reference to the ESDAC

  • Panagos, P., Van Liedekerke, M., Borrelli, P., Köninger, J., Ballabio, C., Orgiazzi, A., Lugato, E., Liakos, L., Hervas, J., Jones, A.  Montanarella, L. 2022. European Soil Data Centre 2.0: Soil data and knowledge in support of the EU policies. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(6), e13315. DOI: 10.1111/ejss.13315
  • Panagos P., Van Liedekerke M., Jones A., Montanarella L., “European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements”; (2012) Land Use Policy, 29 (2), pp. 329-338. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003
  • European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu, European Commission, Joint Research Centre