Application of RUSLE to Soil Erosion Risk Mapping in Arbit Watershed Northwestern Ethiopia.
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Date
2019-11
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Addis abeba Univercity
Abstract
This study was conducted in Arbit watershed, Northwestern Ethiopia with the objective of mapping and predicting the annual soil loss rate and identify erosion hotspot areas by integrating Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation(RUSLE) model,GIS and remote sensing technology. The study employed the RUSLE to map soil erosion risk areas and help experts to prioritize soil conservation practice in Arbit watershed, Northwestern Ethiopia. The major required input parameters for the model were obtained from different satellite imagery sources. The input parameters such as rainfall pattern, topography, soil type, cover management and support practice were derived CHIRPS, DEM, AfSIS, SPOT-7 satellite image and generated by using ArcGIS10.5 software. ERDAS EMAGINE15 software were used for LULC classification. The annual soil loss of was classified in to very low, low, moderate, high, very high and severe to identify erosion hotspot areas in the watershed. The result showed that the potential annual soil loss (A) of the watershed ranges from 0 to 814.74 ton/ha/yr. The findings revealed that soil erosion risk was high in the North and Northwestern part of the study area. The vulnerability of soil erosion risk in the study area indicated that 34.61% was fall under moderate to high soil erosion risk.18.74% under very high to severe soil erosion risk class. Steep slope areas with poor vegetation cover experienced high soil erosion. Topography (LS factor) and vegetation (C factor) have a significant effect on soil erosion in the watershed. Implementation of immediate soil and water conservation practices are needed for areas where annual soil loss was above 25ton/ha/yr.
Key words: topographic factor, soil loss, watershed, management prioritization,
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Keywords
topographic factor, soil loss, watershed, management prioritization