The main form of erosion in Brazilian conditions is caused by the kinetic energy of the impact of raindrops on the soil surface, triggering the erosion process. The present study was conducted with the aim to evaluate the erosivity index (EI30), as well as to characterize the hydrological pattern of rainfall in the Pernambuco Central 'Agreste', considering a series of 29 years of data. It was found that the first half of the year is characterized by rain with high erosive potential. The value of the factor "R" in the Universal equation of soil loss for the studied region is 2,779.79 MJ mm ha-1 h-1. The rain pattern of higher occurrence is the advanced, followed by intermediate and delayed, with 46.57; 36.38 and 17.19% of total erosive rainfall analyzed, respectively. There were no significant correlations between erosivity, rainfall coefficient and precipitation.
rainfall erosive potential; rainfall hydrological characteristics; USLE
