EROS - A GRID-BASED PROGRAM FOR ESTIMATING SPATIALLY-DISTRIBUTED EROSION INDEXES

EROS is a grid-based terrain analysis program for estimating the spati al distribution of soil loss and erosion-and-deposition potential in a catchment. The sediment transport index is similar to the length-slop e factor in the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, but is applicabl e to three-dimensional terrain. IL characterizes the effects of topogr aphy and catchment hydrology on soil loss, and helps to identify areas in a catchment that are highly susceptible to erosion by flowing wate r. The method is based on characterizing the sediment transport capaci ty of overland flow using a stream-power approach. The terrain attribu tes generated by TAPES-G provide the basic terrain attributes used by EROS. Stream networks, subcatchments and the spatial distribution of i ndividual attributes can be plotted interactively or copied to the ARC /INFO geographic information system (GIS) for further analysis and dis play. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.