Comment on “Predicting event soil loss from bare plots at two Italian sites” by Bagarello et al. 2013 (DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2013.04.010)

The USLE-MM event erosivity factor is given by the power of the product of the runoff ratio (QR), total storm energy (E) and the maximum 30-min intensity (I30). Bagarello et al. (2013) develop equations to provide common values of this power at Messe and Sparacia experiment stations in Italy. The approach produced a false perception that the erodibility of the soils at the two experiment stations in Italy was the same when QREI30 is greater than 6 – 9 MJ mm ha −1 h −1 while below this critical level, the soil at Messe has a greater erodibility than the soil at Sparacia.