A very active and influential parameter in the erosive process is the R factor, called rainfall erosivity. This factor is one of the components of the universal soil loss equation. Studies in spatial variability have been conducted in an attempt to define the spatial distribution of the R factor for a given region. This study aimed to calculate the rainfall erosivity (R factor - EI30) to generate spatial maps. The study was conducted in experimental areas of eucalyptus stands in nine counties of the Rio Doce Valley, Central-Eastern region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Rainfall data from January 2005 to December 2008 were used. Erosivity was spatialized according to geostatistical principles and data interpolation using kriging. The annual rainfall erosivity indexes ranged from 7,970 to 18,646 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1 . The reaching distance of the monthly erosivity index varied from 10 to 177 km, and was 52 km for the annual index.
R factor (EI30); rainfall erosion potential; spatial variability; geostatistics
