TITLE:
Estimation of Soil Erosion Risk Using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and Geo-Information Technology in Oued El Makhazine Watershed, Morocco
AUTHORS:
Asma Belasri, Abdellah Lakhouili
KEYWORDS:
Oued El Makhazine Watershed, Erosion, USLE, Geographic Information System
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.8 No.1,
February
29,
2016
ABSTRACT: Soil erosion by water is
one of the major threats to soils in the north of Morocco; soil erosion not
only decreases agricultural productivity, but also reduces the water
availability. In the current study, Oued El Makhazine watershed is selected to
estimate annual soil loss using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), remote
sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS). GIS data layers
including, rainfall erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), slope length and
steepness (LS), cover management
(C) and conservation practice (P) factors are computed to determine their
effects on average annual soil loss in the area. The resultant map of annual
soil erosion shows a maximum soil
loss of 735 t·h-1·y-1, about 65.25% (1575 km2),
of the watershed ranges between 0 and 95 t·h-1·y-1.
Higher soil losses are observed at higher LS factor area. The spatial erosion
maps generate with USLE method, remote sensing and GIS can serve as effective
inputs in deriving strategies for land planning and management in the
environmentally sensitive mountainous areas.