Radar remote sensing reveals potential underestimation of rainfall erosivity at the global scale.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37556540.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adg5551 and PMC identifier 10411884.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Rainfall kinetic energy (RKE) constitutes one of the most critical factors that drive rainfall erosivity on surface soil. Direct measurements of RKE are limited, relying instead on the empirical relations between kinetic energy and rainfall intensity (<i>KE-I</i> relation), which have not been well regionalized for data-scarce regions. Here, we present the first global rainfall microphysics-based RKE (<i>RKE<sub>MPH</sub></i>) flux retrieved from radar reflectivity at different frequencies. The results suggest that <i>RKE<sub>MPH</sub></i> flux outperforms the <i>RKE</i> estimates derived from a widely used empirical <i>KE-I</i> relation (<i>RKE<sub>KE-I</sub></i>) validated using ground disdrometers. We found a potentially widespread underestimation of <i>RKE<sub>KE-I</sub></i>, which is especially prominent in some low-income countries with ~20% underestimation of RKE and the resultant rainfall erosivity. Given the evidence that these countries are subject to greater rainfall-induced soil erosion, these underestimations would mislead conservation practices for sustainable development of terrestrial ecosystems.