ESTIMATION OF SOIL LOSS BY WATER EROSION DEPENDING ON LAND USE MANAGEMENT USING GIS

References: 14th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2014, www.sgem.org, SGEM2014 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7105-17-9 / ISSN 1314-2704, June 19-25, 2014, Book 5, Vol. 1, 283-290 pp

ABSTRACT
Soil erosion is recognized as one of the most important soil degradation process
worldwide, which can be effectively controlled by the implementation of erosion
control practices, such as conservation tillage, crop rotation, residue management,
vegetative filter strips, terraces, and grassed waterways. One of the easiest and simplest conservation practices is crop rotation. In order to assess the soil erosion risk, soil erosion modelling at the watershed scale are needed to be undertaken. Geographic information systems are a useful and efficient tool for evaluating and mapping soil erosion risk in watershed. Modelling of water erosion intensity using geographic information systems can establish in which parts of the watershed limit values of soil loss are exceeded and thereby it is necessary to change crop rotation or design and implement another suitable erosion control practices. The purpose of this paper is to apply raster GIS methods to a soil erosion model for the Tisovec (Slovakia) watershed displaying varying types of land use conditions.

Keywords: USLE, reservoir, GIS, crop rotation