Estimating the Soil Erosion Response to Land-Use Change Using GIS-Based RUSLE and Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China

Abstract

Understanding soil erosion in the northeastern area of China with black soil is vital for protecting the natural environment and preserving food security. Although spatial and temporal studies of soil erosion have been conducted, further research is needed on the correlation between soil erosion and land use type changes. In this study, the soil erosion modulus is computed using RUSLE. The model that is most suitable to the research area was produced by contrasting three different approaches to estimating the rainfall erosion factor. The RUSLE based on the multi-year continuous high-density hourly average precipitation had the best performance of the bunch, with a MAPE of 15.49%, RMSPE of 7.99%, and R2 of 0.99. Based on this model, simulated soil erosion trends in the study region from 1980 to 2020 were examined, along with the link between soil erosion and land use change. The results showed that 40.47% of the overall erosion area is made up of cultivated land, and 97.83% of it is low erosion. The most severe soil erosion occurred on unused land, with moderate and above soil erosion occupying 48.93%. Since 2000, there has been an increase in the erosion of soil in the study region, which is primarily spatially represented in the rise in the soil erosion of forests in the central and northern mountainous areas. The study’s findings serve as a guide for land planning and the development of sustainable agriculture.

Soil Erosion Modeling Using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation and a Geographic Information System in a Watershed in the Northeastern Brazilian Cerrado

“…Soils play an important role in the growth of natural resources. Soil erosion is a natural process in which the topsoil is removed from its original location [1]. The accelerated soil erosion that has been found worldwide is an environmental problem related to land use for agricultural and forestry practices and is linked to population growth.…”

“…The reduction in soil porosity is one of the reasons for erosive processes, reducing the capacity for water retention and infiltration, causing an increase in surface runoff and sediment transport, and causing the siltation of water bodies [1,8,9].…”

“…The results obtained by Cerqueira and Gomes (2023) [13] indicate that, in Piauí state in northeastern Brazil, there has been an expansion of land use for agriculture, pasture, and non-vegetated areas, which include urbanization, mining, and beaches and dunes over 987.03, 177.15, and 24.43 hectares, respectively. However, soil erosion is facilitated and accelerated by inadequate management practices, which contribute to unproductive land use, affecting food insecurity [1,7,17,18].…”

“…In recent decades, the USLE has undergone major changes, resulting in improved versions, such as the Revised USLE (RUSLE) [7,28], enabling the application of the equation at the watershed level and the development of maps that identify areas susceptible to water erosion. This model provides a clear perspective for understanding the interaction between erosion and its causal factors, is a computer-based model, and has benefited greatly from advances in Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing technologies [1,13,14,[24][25][26][27]. Rasanen et al (2023) [28] used the RUSLE in Finland to estimate the soil erosion on different spatial scales.…”

“…The study, conducted in Tamil Nadu, India, identified a 43.52% increase in the erosion risk over different years (2004 to 2009). Other authors have also applied the RUSLE in diverse spatial contexts [1,[36][37][38][39], demonstrating the model's versatility and its globally efficient and adaptive nature.…”