Recent advancements in rainfall erosivity assessment in Brazil: A review

Abstract

In this paper, we report the results of an in-depth review of scientific literature on the assessment of rainfall erosivity in Brazil and published in peer-reviewed journals over the last three decades. In total, 123 articles regarding this topic in Brazil were published. These studies were analyzed and filtered into categories regarding the bibliographic information, methodology scope, and main results. It was found that the EI30 has been the most employed erosivity index in the country, while the use of pluviographic rainfall data and regression equations are the main methods for obtaining erosivity values. The magnitudes of annual rainfall erosivity reported for the Brazilian territory range from 59 to 26,891 MJ mm ha-1h−1 year−1. The lowest values are found in the Northeast region and the highest in the North. Kriging is the most widespread technique for obtaining rainfall erosivity maps in Brazil. Furthermore, the Southeast region accounts for the largest number of erosivity studies, while the North has a major lack of erosivity information. The advancements over the last decade are characterized by the use of synthetic series of rainfall and remote sensing products to estimate erosivity, as well as the use of machine learning techniques for its interpolation. For the next years, an increase in the use of these methodologies is expected, as well as an intensification of the assessment of the future patterns of rainfall erosivity over the country. The present review updates the findings regarding the assessment of rainfall erosivity in Brazil and brings a wider overview of the erosivity studies in the country. The information here summarized contributes to the establishment of a conservationist planning of soil and water management on a national scale. Finally, the complete database with all information retrieved from the literature was made available.