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Assessment of Soil Erosion in Karamana Watershed by RUSLE Model Using Remote Sensing and GIS

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Innovative Trends in Hydrological and Environmental Systems

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering ((LNCE,volume 234))

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Abstract

Soil erosion can be defined as the detachment of soil cover which is a serious land degradation problem today. The study estimates the average annual soil loss occurring in Karamana watershed, located in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model integrated with remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS). Karamana watershed has a total catchment area of around 692 km2. Factors such as rainfall, nature of soil, topographical features, land use, and land cover pattern were overlaid in ArcGIS software for the estimation of soil loss using RUSLE model. The average soil loss rate was estimated as 15.55 t-ha−1 yr−1 and the overall all soil loss was found as 1.07 million-t-yr−1. It was observed that about 20.75% of the total study area is experiencing very high to severe erosion. The main parameters which are contributing to erosion are the topography factor and land-use pattern. The results of this study can be used in planning suitable land management approaches for minimizing the risk of soil loss within the watershed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Government Engineering College Barton Hill, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    M. J. Pooja, Santra Thomas, U. B. Udayasurya, P. V. Praveej & S. Minu

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  1. M. J. Pooja
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  2. Santra Thomas
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  3. U. B. Udayasurya
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  4. P. V. Praveej
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  5. S. Minu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Anil Kumar Dikshit

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Balaji Narasimhan

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Bimlesh Kumar

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal, Telangana, India

    Ajey Kumar Patel

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Pooja, M.J., Thomas, S., Udayasurya, U.B., Praveej, P.V., Minu, S. (2022). Assessment of Soil Erosion in Karamana Watershed by RUSLE Model Using Remote Sensing and GIS. In: Dikshit, A.K., Narasimhan, B., Kumar, B., Patel, A.K. (eds) Innovative Trends in Hydrological and Environmental Systems. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 234. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0304-5_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0304-5_17

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-19-0303-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-0304-5

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