One of the most common approaches to modelling soil erosion worldwide has been the implementation of the original Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its revised version, the RUSLE. However, despite its widespread use, often there are discrepancies in the methods used to compute it and in the values elicited for the five individual factors that comprise this function. Such pitfalls subsequently skew the final results obtained and often many studies also fail to adequately examine the accuracy of the enumerated soil loss amounts. We examine these aspects with respect to the raft of USLE-based studies undertaken in India over the last few decades, reviewing a total of 100 investigations in this regard. Results reveal that almost all studies had either over- or underestimated at least one of the five factors, thereby possibly misrepresenting the actual soil loss occurring from their examined areas. Even more worryingly, most studies had failed to document their methods succinctly or in sufficient detail to ascertain their efficacies or provide viable templates for replication elsewhere. Our results also show a marked spatiality in the pursuance of such studies, with these being mostly undertaken in the eastern part of the country, even though the proportionate land affected by soil erosion is considerably less in this region. Thus regions where the USLE would be most pertinent for implementation towards land management have seen a lower number of applications. We hope that by avoiding the missteps highlighted in this paper and following the subsequently detailed exemplar methods of conducting such an investigation along with the relevant model accuracy and uncertainty checks, the USLE can be best utilised in these regions and in the rest of the country for soil erosion mitigation. Though focused on India, the methods outlined can also be used to conduct the most accurate possible USLE-based soil erosion modelling elsewhere.

世界范围内对土壤侵蚀进行建模的最常见方法之一是实施原始的通用土壤流失方程 (USLE) 及其修订版 RUSLE。然而，尽管它被广泛使用，但在用于计算它的方法和为构成该函数的五个单独因素得出的值中经常存在差异。这些陷阱随后会歪曲获得的最终结果，而且通常许多研究也未能充分检查列举的土壤流失量的准确性。我们根据过去几十年在印度进行的大量基于 USLE 的研究来检查这些方面，审查了总共 100 项这方面的调查。结果表明，几乎所有研究都高估或低估了五个因素中的至少一个，从而可能歪曲其检查区域发生的实际土壤流失情况。更令人担忧的是，大多数研究未能简洁或足够详细地记录他们的方法，无法确定其功效或为其他地方的复制提供可行的模板。我们的结果还显示了此类研究的显着空间性，这些研究主要在该国东部进行，尽管该地区受土壤侵蚀影响的土地比例要小得多。因此，USLE 与土地管理实施最相关的地区的申请数量较少。我们希望通过避免本文中强调的错误并遵循随后进行此类调查的详细示例方法以及相关的模型准确性和不确定性检查，可以在这些地区和该国其他地区最好地利用 USLE土壤侵蚀减缓。虽然专注于印度，但概述的方法也可用于在其他地方进行最准确的基于 USLE 的土壤侵蚀建模。