Estimation of soil loss by USLE Model using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques - A Case study of Coastal Odisha, India

Abstract

Globally, Soil erosion is the major land degradation problem, which impacts seriously oneconomic and environmental status. Geospatial techniques support and providedquantitative approach to estimate soil erosion in different conditions. In the present study,Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) integrated with GIS has been used to estimatesoil loss in the part of coastal Odisha system. The study area, Ganjam block have undulatingtopography covering 0-35% slopes. The quantitative soil loss was estimated and classifiedinto different classes and soil erosion map was generated. The soil erosion map is classifiedinto seven classes from very slight (80 t ha-1 yr-1). Theresults indicate that 90.9% (22330 ha) of the study area falls in very low erosion category,which may be due to level topography and regular vegetation cover. The other erosionclasses such as moderate, high and very high erosion occurred in the range of 2.12%, 2.23%and 1.49 %, respectively. The high soil erosion risk is spatially situated in the foothills andupper steep slope of the area. The results can certainly aid in implementation of soilmanagement and conservation practices to reduce the soil erosion in the coastal Odisharegions of Eastern India.