Mapping monthly rainfall erosivity in Europe.

Rainfall erosivity as a dynamic factor of soil loss by water erosion is modelled intra-annually for the first time at European scale. The development of Rainfall Erosivity Database at European Scale (REDES) and its 2015 update with the extension to monthly component allowed to develop monthly and seasonal R-factor maps and assess rainfall erosivity both spatially and temporally. During winter months, significant rainfall erosivity is present only in part of the Mediterranean countries.

Reply to the comment on "Rainfall erosivity in Europe" by Auerswald et al.

Recently, in the Auerswald et al. (2015) comment on "Rainfall erosivity in Europe", 5 criticisms were addressed: i) the neglect of seasonal erosion indices, ii) the neglect of published studies and data, iii) the low temporal resolution of the data, especially of the maximum rain intensity, iv) the use of precipitation data instead of rain data and the subsequent deviation of the R-factor in Germany and Austria compared with previous studies, and v) the differences in considered time periods between countries. We reply as follows: (i) An evaluation of the seasonal erosion index at the European scale is, to our knowledge, not achievable at present with the available data but would be a future goal.

Rainfall erosivity in Europe.

Rainfall is one the main drivers of soil erosion. The erosive force of rainfall is expressed as rainfall erosivity. Rainfall erosivity considers the rainfall amount and intensity, and is most commonly expressed as the R-factor in the USLE model and its revised version, RUSLE.