1. GIS and remote sensing-based assessment of soil erosion risk using RUSLE model in South-Kivu province, eastern, Democratic Republic of Congo
- Author
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Leonard K. Mubalama, Pandurang Choudhari, Luc Cimusa Kulimushi, and Gedeon T. Banswe
- Subjects
land-use and land-cover ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,media_common.quotation_subject ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,02 engineering and technology ,Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering ,complex mixtures ,01 natural sciences ,gis-rs ,rusle model ,GE1-350 ,TD1-1066 ,021101 geological & geomatics engineering ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,General Environmental Science ,media_common ,soil erosion ,Epoch (reference date) ,support practices effect ,Democracy ,Environmental sciences ,Geography ,HD61 ,Remote sensing (archaeology) ,South kivu ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Risk in industry. Risk management ,Physical geography - Abstract
Soil erosion risk assessment in South-Kivu longs for the colonial epoch, while the province faces the problem of extreme degradation of land in the form of soil erosion. Thus, the study attempts to assess the soil erosion at the province level using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in conjunction with the Geographical Information System (GIS), and remote sensing data. The estimated total soil erosion was 2.084 million tons; with an annual average of 138.2 t ha−1 yr−1. Moreover, the soil loss greater than 100 t ha−1 yr−1 accounts for 45.2% of the total erosive land. The soil erosion worsening nearly the entire territories range between 87 t ha−1 yr−1 in Shabunda to 248 t ha−1 yr−1 in Uvira. Under high aggressiveness of rainfall with mean of 1857.19 mm/y, the highest rate found in Perennial crop, Trees, and Cropland in contrast to Shrub and closed Forest was mainly due to the mean slope of 22% found in the former Land cover categories compared to 17% of Shrubland and closed forest. The adoption of terracing could reduce by 76% the current rate of cropland i.e., from (162.12 t ha−1 yr−1 to 38 t ha−1 yr−1). Therefore it is strongly recommended.
- Published
- 2021
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