Predicting Soil Erosion Process Based on RS&GIS

Abstract

Soil erosion is becoming more and more serious worldwide in recent decades, and remains a major threat to terrestrial ecosystem and global sustainable development. The loss of topsoil through erosion results in a significant loss in productivity. The subsoil remains is likely to be incapable of supporting viable agricultural enterprises. Runoff from eroding landscapes contains sediment and any nutrients, fertilizers or pesticides that were present in the soil. Assessment on soil erosion hazard is essential for soil conservation plans of a mountainous region for sustainable development. The objective of this study was to predicting soil erosion process and mapping soil erosion hazard of Yizi (Rehe district, Sichuan province, P.R.China) following RS(remote sensing) and GIS based on modeling approach using derived soil, land cover and DEM derived terrain slope map and ancillary data of soil characteristics and rainfall as inputs. Integrated predicting approach resulted in five classes of soil erosion hazard from low to high in this study area with numerical values of the Soil Loss Equation (SLE). The results shows that RS and GIS are indeed valuable tools for predicting soil erosion process and soil erosion hazard mapping by integration of soil erosion controlling parameters.