Review on Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) using GIS Application

Samaila Jibrin El-Pateh

Abstract


Soil erosion is an environmental, economic and social problem recognized universally, which the world is facing in the 21st century. It leads not only to severe land degradation and soil productivity loss, but the danger also threatens the well-being, stability and health of all facets of society, and rural areas sustainable development in particular. According to recent evaluations over 80% of world’s agricultural land is afflicted with moderate to severe erosion with exacerbated loss of productivity. Because of this and population expansion, the global per capita food supply is presently waning. Estimation of soil erosion loss and assessment of soil erosion risk becomes a pressing task by many nations before implementing soil preservation practices. There is now a huge published literature on the relevance of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in blend with Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for predicting soil loss and erosion risks in diverse regions. This review paper assesses the current literature on the combined application of RUSLE and GIS, exploring new developments in deriving the five RUSLE components. This literature review shows that using the traditional RUSLE in mapping out soil erosion in large watersheds poses challenges due to the cost, labour and time involved. The amalgamation of GIS technology with RUSLE has improved the effectiveness of estimating spatial distribution and scale of erosion risk with practical costs and better accuracy.


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References


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