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A New Innovative Tool to Measure Soil Erosion

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Water Resources in Arid Areas: The Way Forward

Part of the book series: Springer Water ((SPWA))

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Abstract

Soil erosion is a one of the most serious environmental problems worldwide. This is the result of unsustainable anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, deforestation and urbanization. In addition, the extreme events caused by climate change are expected to accelerate soil erosion. The Mediterranean region, due to the sparse vegetation, topography, frequent wildfires and being inhabited for thousands of years has higher soil erosion rates compared to the rest of Europe. These facts indicate that new tools need to be developed and utilized in order to be able to mitigate effectively and efficiently soil erosion in the Mediterranean. The goal of this study was to develop a new monitoring system of sensors that measures erosion accurately but also measures other important environmental variables that influence erosion. The erosion measurements were based on ultrasonic technology that allows accuracy of up to 1 mm. The system also measures precipitation, soil and air temperature and soil moisture. These measurements can be continuous something very important to understand soil erosion mechanisms. Two systems with sensors were installed in September 2015, in the Kallirahi torrent watershed of Thasos Island in Greece. The specific watershed had a wildfire in August of 2013, and the impact is still evident on the landscape. One of the system of sensors was installed in an area with tree cover and gradual slopes while the other area had no overstory and steep slopes. Evaluating the preliminary results show that the measured variables by the sensor provides very accurate data.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Management and Control of Mountainous Waters (Lab of MCMW), Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology (EMaTTech), 1st km Drama-Mikrohoriou, 66100, Drama, Greece

    G. N. Zaimes, V. Iakovoglou, K. Ioannou & P. Koutalakis

  2. Electronics Lab., Physics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 52124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    I. Kosmadakis, T. Laopoulos & P. Tsardaklis

  3. Forest Service of Thasos Island, 64004, Thasos, Greece

    G. Ranis

Authors
  1. G. N. Zaimes
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  2. V. Iakovoglou
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  3. I. Kosmadakis
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  4. K. Ioannou
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  5. P. Koutalakis
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  6. G. Ranis
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  7. T. Laopoulos
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  8. P. Tsardaklis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. N. Zaimes .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Sciences Department, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University, AlKhod, Oman

    Osman Abdalla

  2. Sutan Qaboos University , AlKhod, Oman

    Anvar Kacimov

  3. Water Research Center, Sultan Qaboos University Hydrogeology/Water Research Ctr, AlKhod, Oman

    Mingjie Chen

  4. Sultan Qaboos University , AlKhod, Oman

    Ali Al-Maktoumi

  5. Sultan Quaboos University , AlKhod, Oman

    Talal Al-Hosni

  6. Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa Earth Sciences, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Ian Clark

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Zaimes, G.N. et al. (2017). A New Innovative Tool to Measure Soil Erosion. In: Abdalla, O., Kacimov, A., Chen, M., Al-Maktoumi, A., Al-Hosni, T., Clark, I. (eds) Water Resources in Arid Areas: The Way Forward. Springer Water. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51856-5_15

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