Quantitative Evaluation of Soil Erosion in the Upper Minjiang River Basin of China Based on Integration of Geospatial Technologies Using RUSLE

Abstract

Soil erosion is an important part of land ecological change and global environmental change. In southern China, the red soil hilly area is a region with serious soil erosion and water and soil loss. In this study, the spatial distribution of soil erosion and its change induced by land use types were obtained with the spatial operation analysis technology of a geographic information system and the revised universal soil loss equation model (RUSLE). The results show that soil erosion is most very lightly eroded in the study area as a whole, and has a wide yet relatively concentrated distribution, namely spatial aggregation distribution. The average soil erosion rate is the highest in Zhenghe County, followed by Wuyishan City, Shunchang County and Changting County, and relatively low in other counties. Further analysis on soil erosion under different land use types shows that erosion is more serious in unused land, orchard, dry land and rural settlements, and less severe in grassland, urban land, woodland and paddy field. This can be explained by the differences in vegetation cover, soil and water conservation measures, and the degree of human disturbance under different land use patterns.

Research Progress on Identification of Basin Water Yield Baseline and Regulation Slope Water Yield Process

“…In areas with low vegetation coverage, loose soil, and high precipitation intensity, soil erosion is prone to occur, resulting in the destruction of the ecological environment on the slope and threatening water security [107,108]. Based on ecological engineering construction measures such as slope afforestation, dry land terrace construction, and silt dam construction, it can reduce soil and water loss on the slope and repair and improve the ecological environment [109,110].…”

Assessment of Soil Erosion Rates Using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and GIS in Bačka (Serbia)

“…Numerous widespread and popular empirical models have been developed that serve to assess the intensity of erosion: Erosion Potential Method -EPM [13], The Universal Soil Loss Equation -USLE [14], Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation -MUSLE [15] and Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation -RUSLE [16]. The RUSLE method is suitable for determining the rate of erosion in agricultural regions of lowland type such as Bačka with a slope ranging from 3 to 18% [17].…”