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Assessment of land degradation due to soil erosion based on current land use/landcover pattern using RS and GIS techniques

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Abstract

Land degradation is a problem of grave concern and a major factor leading to it is soil erosion. Soil erosion and its rate are influenced by various factors intrinsic to the soil or related to the soil’s external environment. These factors include rainfall, soil erodibility, topographic characteristics, crop cover, and conservation practices. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) is a well-renowned empirical formula used to compute a particular area’s mean annual soil loss. Remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) technologies make modeling and execution of RUSLE easy, reliable, and cost-effective. So, these were employed to compute the spatial distribution of soil erosion risk area in Nagavangala micro-watershed in Karnataka state, India. All the factors were generated using metrological data, CartoSat DEM, Quick bird imagery, and laboratory analysis data using GIS software and integrated in a GIS environment to estimate the soil loss rate. It was found that cropland (41.81%) was the dominant land use followed by agricultural plantation (41.5%) and scrubland (11.09%). The average annual soil loss of the watershed was estimated to be 9.80 t/ha/year. The average annual soil loss was highest in the area under scrubland (10.58 t/ha/year) followed by cropland (10.2 t/ha/year). The soil erosion map thus generated can serve as a basis for adopting suitable soil and water conservation measures in the watershed for sustainable management of the resources in it.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India

    Anand Subramanyan, Ravikumar Dharmaraj, Konandur Thimmanaik Gurumurthy & Shobha Sampangi

  2. University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India

    Shobha Sampangi & Yallesh Kumar Holur Srinivasaiah

Authors
  1. Anand Subramanyan
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  2. Ravikumar Dharmaraj
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  3. Konandur Thimmanaik Gurumurthy
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  4. Shobha Sampangi
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  5. Yallesh Kumar Holur Srinivasaiah
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Contributions

• Anand Subramanyan and Dr. Ravikumar Dharmaraj: conceived and designed the research experiment.

• Anand Subramanyan: performed the experiments, managed the experimental analysis work, and collected the data.

• Dr. Ravikumar Dharmaraj: regularly supervised the research work.

• Dr. Ravikumar Dharmaraj and Dr. Konandur Thimmanaik Gurumurthy: contributed lab reagents and materials.

• Dr. Shobha Sampangi and Dr. Yallesh Kumar Holur Srinivasaiah: provided technical assistance.

• Dr. Ravikumar Dharmaraj: involved in the analysis of the data.

• Anand Subramanyan: interpreted the data and wrote the paper draft.

• All co-authors have critically reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anand Subramanyan.

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Responsible Editor: Biswajeet Pradhan

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Subramanyan, A., Dharmaraj, R., Gurumurthy, K.T. et al. Assessment of land degradation due to soil erosion based on current land use/landcover pattern using RS and GIS techniques. Arab J Geosci 16, 431 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11534-7

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