Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, Version 2 (RUSLE2) Development: Advanced science components and web-based user interface for use in conservation planning

The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, Version 2 (RUSLE2) is the water erosion prediction tool for use by the USDA National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for all conservation planning in the United States. USDA NRCS utilizes the Integrated Erosion Tool (IET) that combines RUSLE2 with USDA data sets for soil, climate, and agricultural management. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the USDA’s research agency charged with the development of the RUSLE2 model. RUSLE2 is an advanced computer model that estimates rill and interrill erosion by water, combining empirical and process-based science, for use on personal computers. This research aims at improving RUSLE2 science components, including the development of a web-based user interface for RUSLE2, for use by USDA NRCS. Advanced science components will be developed to quantify rainfall and land management effects on spatial and temporal variability of dynamic soil properties in agricultural watersheds in the United States, with emphasis on the assessment of soil erodibility and the risk of soil erosion under climate change. State-of-the-art technologies needed to measure, identify, and link dynamic soil erodibility to soil loss in the agricultural landscape, such as machine learning algorithms, remote sensing, and non-intrusive visualization and imaging technologies will provide advanced science components for RUSLE2. For the development of a web-based RUSLE2 modeling system, a new cloud based infrastructure is being deployed using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform, which will support online databases for climate, soil, and agricultural management data. A new database structure is being designed for RUSLE2, to support server based erosion calculations. AWS services will also provide web servers, spatial databases, geoprocessing capabilities, cooperative source code development and all compute and storage resources. These research findings and products will help understand how climate change and modern management practices impact soil erodibility dynamics. Improvements to RUSLE2 technology will lead to advances in determining soil loss across agricultural landscapes through improved physically based water erosion models. New web-based tools will provide best management practices for soil and water resources conservation under changing environments, contributing to sustainable agriculture and food security, while ensuring environmental health.