Soil Retention / Erosion

Estimates soil loss from water erosion using a dynamic, satellite-driven erosion model (RUSLE), helping to identify and manage land degradation risks. Inversion of erosion figure to generate retention figure.

availability

On Demand

Now

indicator tier

Gold

unit

Ton/ha/year

spatial resolution

100m

measurement frequency

Annual

measurement level

Plot

historic data availability

2018-2025

Forescast data availability

N/A

applicable crop types

All

applicable land type

Grassland

Conservation

Cropland

Forestry

compliance frameworks

CSRD (ESRS E4), Nature Positive Initiative (NPI), SBTN, TNFD

description

Estimates the actual annual rate of soil loss due to water erosion, calculated using the widely-recognized Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). This indicator helps to identify areas that are vulnerable to land degradation, which can impact agricultural productivity and water quality. It is an essential tool for sustainable land management, guiding the implementation of soil conservation measures to protect this vital resource.

methodology

We use satellite observations (Sentinel 2) to monitor the intraannual fraction of vegetation cover and bare soil occurrence. Combined with intraannual precipitation data and soil erodibility and terrain information we execute an implementation of the RUSLE soil erosion framework. We generate annual actual erosion estimates in tonnes soil lost per ha.

validation

We validate our erosion estimates against the Global Erosion Ground Data reference database (Glosem) curated by the European Comission’s Joint Research Center as well as against global long-term erosion data products using standard statistical validation approaches.

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