Quantification Of Spatio-Temporal Changes In Soil Erosion Rates At Putturtaluk, Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Land degradation is one of the most severe and extensive environmental dangers the earth has been battling for a long time. Soil erosion is one of the prime factor for degradation of land as well as water resources. In this work, the amount of soil loss in the study region is calculated using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and GIS.

The RUSLE model parameters are calculated using remote sensing data, and the erosion,probability zones are determined using GIS.Heavy rains in the year 2013 created flash floods over the region, resulting in the loss of 68,737 metric tonnes of soil. Very high erosion probability zone accounts for 61.3% of total soil loss (42,177 tons/year) and covers 6.69 percentage of the research area. The erosion susceptibility map that are produced as a result of this research would be a useful resource for stakeholders, decision-makers, and government officials involved in the planning  anderosion catastrophe management.