Short Citation
Office for Coastal Management, 2025: R-Factor for the Conterminous United States, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/48224.
Full Citation Examples

Abstract

The rainfall-runoff erosivity factor (R-Factor) quantifies the effects of raindrop impacts and reflects the amount and rate of runoff associated with the rain. The R-factor is one of the parameters used by the Revised Unified Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to estimate annual rates of erosion. This product is a raster representation of R-Factor derived from isoerodent maps published in the Agriculture Handbook Number 703 (Renard et al.,1997). Lines connecting points of equal rainfall ersoivity are called isoerodents. The iserodents plotted on a map of the coterminous U.S. were digitized, then values between these lines were obtained by linear interpolation. The final R-Factor data are in raster GeoTiff format at 800 meter resolution in Albers Conic Equal Area, GRS80, NAD83.

https://coast.noaa.gov/data/digitalcoast/zip/R-Factor-CONUS.zip

Access Constraints:

None

Use Constraints:

None

climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, EROSION, RUNOFF, SOIL EROSION

Type

Title

Entity

R-Factor map for the U.S.

Point of Contact
NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
coastal.info@noaa.gov
(843) 740-1202
https://coast.noaa.gov

Metadata Contact
NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
coastal.info@noaa.gov
(843) 740-1202
https://coast.noaa.gov

Geographic Area 1

-125.325871714° W, -66.4104121711° E, 48.4453282747° N, 24.5562065906° S

Time Frame 1
1975 - 1997

Title:	R-Factor for the Conterminous United States
Short Name:	R-Factor_metadata_for_CONUS
Status:	Completed
Publication Date:	2013-12-26
Abstract:	The rainfall-runoff erosivity factor (R-Factor) quantifies the effects of raindrop impacts and reflects the amount and rate of runoff associated with the rain. The R-factor is one of the parameters used by the Revised Unified Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to estimate annual rates of erosion. This product is a raster representation of R-Factor derived from isoerodent maps published in the Agriculture Handbook Number 703 (Renard et al.,1997). Lines connecting points of equal rainfall ersoivity are called isoerodents. The iserodents plotted on a map of the coterminous U.S. were digitized, then values between these lines were obtained by linear interpolation. The final R-Factor data are in raster GeoTiff format at 800 meter resolution in Albers Conic Equal Area, GRS80, NAD83.
Purpose:	These data are represented in raster format for use with the Open source Nonpoint Source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool (OpenNSPECT).
Notes:	10840
Other Citation Details:	Renard, K.G., Foster, C.R., Weesies, G.A., McCool, D.K., Yoder, D.C., (1997). Predicting Soil Erosion by Water: A Guide to Conservation Planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook Number 703, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, p.47-51.
Supplemental Information:	These data are derived from isoerodent maps published in the Agriculture Handbook number 703 (Renard et al., 1997). Renard, K.G., Foster, C.R., Weesies, G.A., McCool, D.K., Yoder, D.C., (1997). Predicting Soil Erosion by Water: A Guide to Conservation Planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook Number 703, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, p. 47-51.

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus

Keyword

Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords

EARTH SCIENCE > AGRICULTURE > SOILS > SOIL EROSION

Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords

EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > EROSION

Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords

EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > SURFACE WATER > SURFACE WATER PROCESSES/MEASUREMENTS > RUNOFF

ISO 19115 Topic Category

climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere

UNCONTROLLED

None

Environmental Monitoring

None

Erosion

None

R-Factor

None

Rainfall-Runoff Erosivity

None

Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation

None

RUSLE

None

RUSLE2

Spatial Keywords

Thesaurus

Keyword

Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords

CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

UNCONTROLLED

None

Coterminous United States

Organization:	Office for Coastal Management
City:	Charleston
State/Province:	SC

Data Set Scope Code:	Data Set
Maintenance Frequency:	None Planned
Data Presentation Form:	Map (digital)
Distribution Liability:	Any conclusions drawn from the analysis of this information are not the responsibility of NOAA, the Office for Coastal Management or its partners.
Data Set Credit:	Acknowledgement of the NOAA Office for Coastal Management and Renard et al. (1997) would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

Data Steward

CC ID: 625537

Date Effective From:	2013-12-26
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization):	NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address:	2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address:	coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone:	(843) 740-1202
URL:	https://coast.noaa.gov

Distributor

CC ID: 625539

Date Effective From:	2013-12-26
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization):	NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address:	2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address:	coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone:	(843) 740-1202
URL:	https://coast.noaa.gov

Metadata Contact

CC ID: 625540

Date Effective From:	2013-12-26
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization):	NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address:	2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address:	coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone:	(843) 740-1202
URL:	https://coast.noaa.gov

Point of Contact

CC ID: 625538

Date Effective From:	2013-12-26
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization):	NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address:	2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address:	coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone:	(843) 740-1202
URL:	https://coast.noaa.gov

Currentness Reference:	Ground Condition

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

CC ID: 625543

W° Bound:	-125.325871714
E° Bound:	-66.4104121711
N° Bound:	48.4453282747
S° Bound:	24.5562065906

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

CC ID: 625542

Time Frame Type:	Range
Start:	1975
End:	1997

Spatial Representation

Representations Used

Grid:	Yes

Security Class:	Unclassified
Data Access Constraints:	None
Data Use Constraints:	None

Distribution 1

CC ID: 1326324

Download URL:	https://coast.noaa.gov/data/digitalcoast/zip/R-Factor-CONUS.zip
Distributor:	NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM) (2013-12-26 - Present)

URL 1

CC ID: 625535

URL:	https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/qnspect.html
Name:	QNSPECT
URL Type:	Online Resource

Activity Log 1

CC ID: 625558

Activity Date/Time:	2016-05-23
Description:	Date that the source FGDC record was last modified.

Activity Log 2

CC ID: 625557

Activity Date/Time:	2017-11-14
Description:	Converted from FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (version FGDC-STD-001-1998) using 'fgdc_to_inport_xml.pl' script. Contact Tyler Christensen (NOS) for details.

Activity Log 3

CC ID: 717491

Activity Date/Time:	2018-02-08
Description:	Partial upload of Positional Accuracy fields only.

Description:	MapWindow GIS 8.x

Accuracy:	The cell values in this product represent R-Factor which is an erosivity index for rainfall and runoff. The units are (hundreds ft-tonf-in)/(ac-h-yr).
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:	This map is an approximation of spatial rainfall-runoff values
Vertical Positional Accuracy:	None
Completeness Measure:	Cloud Cover: 0
Completeness Report:	All pixels within the coterminous U.S. boundary contain R-Factor values.
Conceptual Consistency:	Tests for logical consistency indicate that all row and column positions in the selected latitude/longitude window contain data. Conversion and integration with vector files indicates that all positions are consistent with earth coordinates covering the same area.

Sources

R-Factor for the Coterminous United States

CC ID: 625531

Contact Name:	NOAA, National Ocean Service, Office for Coastal Management
Extent Type:	Range
Extent Start Date/Time:	1975
Extent End Date/Time:	1997
Scale Denominator:	250000000
Source Contribution:	Derived from isoerodent maps (Renard et al., 1997) \| Source Geospatial Form: raster digital data \| Type of Source Media: disc

Process Steps

Process Step 1

CC ID: 625532

Description:	The rainfall-funoff erosivity factor was estimated from the R-Factor maps for the coterminous U.S. given in the Agriculture Handbook number 703. A line shapefile approximation of the printed map was generated via "heads-up" digitizing. The final raster map was produced using the Topo to Raster command in ESRI ArcGIS 10.x.
Process Date/Time:	2013-01-01 00:00:00

Rubric scores updated every 15m

Type

Title

Entity

R-Factor map for the U.S.

Catalog Item ID:	48224
GUID:	gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:48224
Metadata Record Created By:	Anne Ball
Metadata Record Created:	2017-11-14 14:28+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By:	Brianna Key
Metadata Record Last Modified:	2024-02-20 21:54+0000
Metadata Record Published:	2018-02-08
Owner Org:	OCM
Metadata Publication Status:	Published Externally
Do Not Publish?:	N
Metadata Last Review Date:	2018-02-08
Metadata Review Frequency:	1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date:	2019-02-08

Summary

Distribution Information

Controlled Theme Keywords

Child Items

Contact Information

Extents

Item Identification

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Spatial Keywords

Physical Location

Data Set Information

Support Roles

Data Steward

Distributor

Metadata Contact

Point of Contact

Extents

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

Spatial Information

Spatial Representation

Representations Used

Access Information

Distribution Information

Distribution 1

URLs

URL 1

Activity Log

Activity Log 1

Activity Log 2

Activity Log 3

Technical Environment

Data Quality

Lineage

Sources

R-Factor for the Coterminous United States

Process Steps

Process Step 1

Child Items

Catalog Details