Estimation of Soil Erosion and Sediment Yield in the Lancang–Mekong River Using the Modified Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation and GIS Techniques

Abstract

The Lancang–Mekong River basin, as an important transboundary river in Southeast Asia, is challenged by rapid socio-economic development, especially the construction of hydropower dams. Furthermore, substantial factors, such as terrain, rainfall, soil properties and agricultural activity, affect and are highly susceptible to soil erosion and sediment yield. This study aimed to estimate average annual soil erosion in terms of spatial distribution and sediment deposition by using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and GIS techniques. This study also applied remote sensing and available data sources for soil erosion analysis. Annual soil erosion in most parts of the study area range from 700 to 10,000 t/km2/y with a mean value of 5350 t/km2/y. Approximately 45% of the total area undergoes moderate erosion. Moreover, the assessments of sediment deposition and erosion using the modified RUSLE and the GIS techniques indicate high sediment erosion along the flow direction of the mainstream, from the upper Mekong River to the Mekong Delta. The northern part of the upper Mekong River and the central and southern parts of the lower Mekong River are the most vulnerable to the increase in soil erosion rates, indicating sediment deposition.

Estimation of Cadmium Contamination in Different Restoration Scenarios by RUSLE Model

“…For this study, observed soil sediment data from field surveying was not performed. However, the observed soil sediment data and the sediment yield results from RUSLE model simulation were well correlated with a correlation higher than 0.9 (Chuenchum et al, 2020).…”

“…RUSLE model is a very powerful method for estimation of soil erosion in specific situations such as dam construction, mining, typhoon, assessing land management measures, LULC change, and mountain areas (Atoma et al, 2020;Chuenchum et al, 2020;Kassawmar et al, 2018;Kim, 2006;Lazzari et al, 2015;Rammahi and Khassaf, 2018;Somprasong and Chaiwiwatworakul, 2015). RUSLE model integrates remote sensing techniques together with GIS for estimation of the quantity of lost sediment in the four scenarios as shown in Equation (1).…”

“…Moreover, assessing the suitable scenario is an essential procedure to select the best measure to reduce Cd contamination and protect the Mae Tao watershed. Therefore, RUSLE model was applied to estimate soil loss (Atoma et al, 2020;Batista et al, 2017;Chuenchum et al, 2020;Farhan et al, 2013;Ganasri and Ramesh, 2016;Kassawmar et al, 2018;Kim, 2006;Lazzari et al, 2015;Lee and Lee, 2006;Millward and Mersey, 1999;Ostovari et al, 2017;Rammahi and Khassaf, 2018;Somprasong and Chaiwiwatworakul, 2015;Xu et al, 2012) and was integrated with IDW technique in GIS to estimate the spatial concentration of Cd (Mesnard, 2013;Somprasong and Chaiwiwatworakul, 2015). Soil loss with RUSLE model and Cd concentration with IDW were used as the parameters to estimate Cd contamination in soil loss in the last step (Somprasong and Chaiwiwatworakul, 2015).…”

Torrential Flood Water Management: Rainwater Harvesting through Relation Based Dam Suitability Analysis and Quantification of Erosion Potential

“…Worldwide, 0.5% to 1% of sedimentation every year influences the capacity limit of reservoirs. The expanded deforestation and destructing man-made exercises everywhere on the world anticipated that by 2050 most of the dams will lose their half of capacity [24]. In Asia, sedimentation has covered approximately 40% of the total storage of reservoirs [25].…”

Modelado de la producción de sedimentos en una cuenca con poca información incluyendo los potenciales efectos del cambio climático y el cambio de uso de suelo

“…Esto último ha condicionado a que se usen con mucha frecuencia las formulaciones empíricas desarrolladas experimentalmente en décadas pasadas que solo permiten calcular la erosión o el aporte de sedimentos (Cohen, Shepherd & Walsh, 2005). A excepción de la ecuación universal de pérdidas del suelo (USLE, por sus siglas en inglés), el resto de las formulaciones no consideran variables y características morfológicas esenciales en los procesos de erosión y transporte de sedimentos de un sistema hidrológico (Chuenchum, Xu & Tang, 2019). Las generalizaciones de estas formulaciones muestran una tendencia hacia la sobreestimación de los procesos (Cohen et al, 2005), por lo cual se deberá tener prudencia en el uso de sus resultados, más aun si se trata del diseño de obras hidráulicas importantes como las presas (Adeogun, Ibitoye, Salami & Ihagh, 2020).…”