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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #73389
Title: PREDICTING SOIL EROSION: WALT WISCHMEIER AND THOSE WHO FOLLOWED

Author
item Nearing, Mark
item Norton, Lloyd
item STEINHARDT, G - AGRY DEPT, PURDUE UNIV.

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/5/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The USDA National Runoff and Soil Loss Data Center was established in 1954 at Purdue University under the direction of Walter H. Wischmeier. The mission of the center was to locate, assemble, and consolidate runoff and erosion data from studies throughout the United States for further analysis. The work conducted by Wischmeier at the center resulted in the Universal Soil Loss Equation which was published as USDA Agricultural Handbook #282 in 1965. The USLE is used for land conservation planning and erosion inventory in the United States, and has been adapted for use around the world. Drs. L. D. Meyer, G. R. Foster, J. V. Mannering, and M. Romkins worked with Wischmeier at the USDA erosion center during the 1960¿s and developed many of the concepts and ideas used in current erosion science and technology. In 1981, after Mr. Wischmeier retired, the USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory was established, and the Agricultural Research Service at Purdue University continues to be the national and international center for soil erosion research.