Estimation of Soil Erosion in Doddahalla Watershed, Chitradurga, Karnataka, Using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and GIS

Abstract

To Estimate the soil erosion in Doddahalla watershed an integrated approach has been adopted using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. The rate of erosion calculation requires a much amount of information and data from various sources. The overlay of Land use and Land Cover, Soil Map, rainfall-runoff erosivity factor, soil erodibility factor, Crop Management Factor,  slope length factor, Topographic factor and Conservation practice factor (P) results that the high amount of soil loss ( 615 tonn h-1 y-1) is significantly low and occupies 92% of the entire study area. It is concluded that 92% area of soil erosion rate is tolerable and has a low risk of erosion. Use of the erosion severity information coupled with basin wide individual RUSLE parameters can help to design the appropriate land use management practices and improved management based on the observations to minimize soil erosion in the basin. The study demonstrates that the use of remote sensing data and GIS has a huge advantage in predicting soil erosion rate for the sustainability and management planning of Doddahalla Watershed in Karnataka region.