Aplicação da equação universal de perda de solos (USLE) em estrada vicinal no munícipio de Aquiraz-Ce

Abstract

Dirt roads, or unpaved roads, are those devoid of any primary coating and are usually made up of local soil. They are common in many developing countries like Brazil and are often the only way to transport agricultural production and displacement of rural populations. The secondary roads have great importance in the economic, social and environmental spheres. Loss of soil by erosion is one of the most serious environmental problems of our time and has caused the degradation of several natural resources, especially soil and water. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USPS) was developed by Wischmeier and Smith in 1965 to estimate erosion in agricultural lots, however, it has been applied in the estimation of soil losses in watersheds and even in back roads. This work used the equation (USLE) for erosion estimation in the municipality of Aquiraz-CE and performed a comparison of the results obtained through this equation with the data obtained in a field survey carried out by topography. The field survey obtained a soil loss value of 18.32 Kg.m-² and by the USLE equation it was possible to obtain a soil loss value, for the same period, in the same order of magnitude, 16.70 Kg .m-². It is also inferred that the soil loss value studied in subsequent years also shows no discrepancy in relation to the value obtained in the field. According to the results it can be concluded that the USLE equation can represent the erosion that occurs in the field, since the result obtained through the USLE equation is in the same order of magnitude of the erosion survey performed by topography.