Wind erosion in European agricultural soils - RWEQ

Soil loss by wind erosion in European agricultural soils (RWEQ model)

Field measurements and observations have shown that wind erosion is a threat for numerous arable lands in the European Union (EU). Wind erosion affects both the semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean region as well as the temperate climate areas of the northern European countries. Yet, there is still a lack of knowledge which limits the understanding about where, when and how heavily wind erosion is affecting European arable lands. Currently, the challenge is to integrate the insights gained by recent pan-European assessments, local measurements, observations and field-scale model exercises into a new generation of regional-scale wind erosion models. This is an important step to make the complex matter of wind erosion dynamics more tangible for decision-makers and to support further research on a field-scale level. 

Study Area

For the purposes of the model the arable land of the 28 Member States of the European Union were selected (EU-28). More specifically, the study area covered the following CORINE 2006 land cover unit: non-irrigated arable land (code 2.1.1) and permanently irrigated land (code 2.1.2). The resulting modelling area amounted to ca. 96.1 million hectares.

Model description

A GIS version of the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) was developed to i) move a step forward into the large-scale wind erosion modelling, ii) evaluate the soil loss potential due to wind erosion in the arable land of the EU, and iii) provide a tool useful to support field-based observations of wind erosion. The model was designed to predict the daily soil loss potential at a ca. 1 km2 spatial resolution. The average annual soil loss predicted by GIS-RWEQ in the EU arable land totalled 0.53  Mg ha-1 yr-1, with the 2nd quantile and the 4th quantile equal to 0.3 and 1.9 Mg ha-1 yr-1, respectively. The cross-validation shows a high consistency with local measurements reported in literature.

Figure. Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ)

Data

The land susceptibility to wind erosion (ILSWE) is provided in GeoTIFF Raster format (georeferenced). To get access to the data, please compile the  online form; instructions will then follow how to download the data. The data download page will provide you access the page containing three available datasets: 1. Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) ; 2. Index of Land Susceptibility to Wind Erosion (ILSWE) 1981-2010; 3. Wind-erodible fraction of soil (EF), and 4. Agriculture Field Parameters on NUTS-3 regions for Wind erosion research.

Aggregated data on Wind erosion at different scales. Please note that the wind erosion has been estimated only once (2010) and refers only in Arable lands (CLC codes 12,13)

Year Soil Loss by wind erosion (t ha-1 yr-1) in arable lands and Share of land under severe wind erosion (t ha-1 yr-1)
2010 Wind erosion data

 

Metadata

Title: The soil loss due to wind erosion in European agricultural soils

Description: GIS-RWEQ is  a simplified GIS-based application of the RWEQ model (ARS-USDA). It follows a spatially distributed approach based on a grid structure, running in R and Python scripts. The model scheme is designed to describe the daily soil loss potential at regional or larger scale. A complete description of the methodology and the application in Europe is described in the paper:

Borrelli, P., Lugato, E., Montanarella, L., & Panagos, P. (2017). A New Assessment of Soil Loss Due to Wind Erosion in European Agricultural Soils Using a Quantitative Spatially Distributed Modelling Approach. Land Degradation & Development, 28: 335-344, DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2588

Spatial coverage: 28 Member States of the European Union.

Pixel size: ca. 1 km

Projection: ETRS89 Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area 

Temporal coverage: from January 2001 to December 2010

Input data source: LUCAS point data, European Soil Database, EEA Corine, MARS climate, NASA MODIS and Landsat imagery.

Information: Pasquale Borrelli, Panos Panagos
European Commission, Joint Research Centre(JRC), Ispra, Italy. 

References - Citations: Borrelli, P., Lugato, E., Montanarella, L., & Panagos, P. (2016). A New Assessment of Soil Loss Due to Wind Erosion in European Agricultural Soils Using a Quantitative Spatially Distributed Modelling Approach. Land Degradation & Development, DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2588.

Go Back To

Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 |

Soil erosion by wind
Title: Soil erosion by wind
Resource Type: Datasets, Soil Threats Data
Theme/Sub-Theme: Wind Erosion, Wind erosion in European agricultural soils - RWEQ, Land susceptibility to wind erosion
Registration requested: Request Form
Continent:
Year: 2016
Publisher: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Language: en
Keywords: RWEQ | , wind erosion | , ILSWE | , sustainability |