▁predict ing ▁soil ▁loss ▁from ▁water ▁er os ion ▁is ▁the ▁Universal ▁So il ▁L oss ▁Equ ation ▁( US LE ). ▁This ▁was ▁developed ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁and ▁ 1 9 7 0 s . ▁It ▁estimates ▁the ▁average ▁annual ▁soil ▁loss ▁A ▁on ▁a ▁plot - s ized ▁area ▁as : ▁ ▁A ▁= ▁R K LS CP ▁where ▁R ▁is ▁the ▁ra inf all ▁er os ivity ▁factor , ▁K ▁is ▁the ▁soil ▁er od ibility ▁factor , ▁L ▁and ▁S ▁are ▁top ographic ▁factors ▁representing ▁length ▁and ▁slope , ▁C ▁is ▁the ▁cover ▁and ▁management ▁factor ▁and ▁P ▁is ▁the ▁support ▁practices ▁factor . ▁ ▁Despite ▁the ▁US LE ' s ▁plot - scale ▁spatial ▁focus , ▁the ▁model ▁has ▁often ▁been ▁used ▁to ▁estimate ▁soil ▁er os ion ▁on ▁much ▁larger ▁areas , ▁such ▁as ▁waters h eds ▁or ▁even ▁whole ▁contin ents . ▁For ▁example , ▁R US LE ▁has ▁recently ▁been ▁used ▁to ▁quant ify ▁soil ▁er os ion ▁across ▁the ▁whole ▁of ▁Europe . ▁One ▁major ▁problem ▁is ▁that ▁the ▁US LE ▁cannot ▁simulate ▁g ul ly ▁er os ion , ▁and ▁so ▁er os ion ▁from ▁g ul lies ▁is ▁ignored ▁in ▁any ▁US LE - based ▁assess ment ▁of ▁er os ion . ▁Yet ▁er os ion ▁from ▁g ul lies ▁can ▁be ▁a ▁substantial ▁proportion ▁( 1 0 – 8 0 %) ▁of ▁total ▁er os ion ▁on ▁cultiv ated ▁and ▁gra zed ▁land . ▁ ▁During