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Assessment of Average Annual Soil Erosion by Rusle Model Using Geospatial Techniques in a Watershed

Sandip Sarkar

Abstract


Soil erosion is a major complication in India, due to the unplanned urbanization and inappropriate treatment of land management. An attempt has been made by using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model to estimate annual average soil loss of the upper Kangsabati watershed in West Bengal, India which comprises a total area of 3603.70 km2. RUSLE model integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) for the whole watershed predicted soil loss of 5.89 t ha-1year-1 for the whole watershed. The main reasons of loss of soil in the catchment were due to human induced activities that affect deforestation, agricultural intensification and unplanned urbanization. This study infers that the latest advances in Remote Sensing (RS) and GIS integrated with RUSLE model can effectively locate areas spatially, for future application of soil conservation measures in a watershed.


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References


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