scholarly journals Temporary ditches are effective in reducing soil erosion in hilly areas. An evaluation with the RUSLE model

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-322
Author(s):  
Rosa Francaviglia ◽  
Ulderico Neri
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Arable Crops ◽  
Highest Weight ◽  
Sloping Lands ◽  
The Common ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Correct Estimation ◽  
Cross Compliance ◽  
Soil Losses

The European Cross-Compliance mechanism set up within the Common Agricultural Policy provides support payments to farmers under the condition that specific Standards for Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs) are respected. GAEC standard 5 is specific to limit soil loss by erosion in arable crops and requires to comply with the ‘Realization of temporary ditches’ in sloping lands affected by soil erosion. The evaluation of soil erosion with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), performed in 60 hilly areas of Italy located in 11 administrative regions, indicated the effectiveness of temporary ditches in reducing soil erosion. As average the presence of ditches significantly decreased erosion by 22.6 Mg ha–1 yr–1 (67%) compared to erosion without temporary ditches. The highest soil losses in the presence of temporary ditches were found in Marche (24.1 Mg ha–1), Umbria (17.4 Mg ha–1), and Emilia-Romagna (15.3 Mg ha–1) regions, which were much above the USDA maximum acceptable erosion rate. Instead, the lowest soil losses were observed in Apulia (1.6 Mg ha–1), Molise (4.1 Mg ha–1), and Tuscany (5.9 Mg ha–1), where they assumed values below the USDA acceptable limit. Results pointed out that the topographic factor has the highest weight among the RUSLE parameters, thus its appraisal requires the best accuracy for a correct estimation of soil losses.

scholarly journals Soil Erosion Estimates in Arid Region: A Case Study of the Koutine Catchment, Southeastern Tunisia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6763
Author(s):  
Mongi Ben Zaied ◽  
Seifeddine Jomaa ◽  
Mohamed Ouessar
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Spatiotemporal Variability ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Soil Losses

Soil erosion remains one of the principal environmental problems in arid regions. This study aims to assess and quantify the variability of soil erosion in the Koutine catchment using the RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) model. The Koutine catchment is located in an arid area in southeastern Tunisia and is characterized by an annual mean precipitation of less than 200 mm. The model was used to examine the influence of topography, extreme rainstorm intensity and soil texture on soil loss. The data used for model validation were obtained from field measurements by monitoring deposited sediment in settlement basins of 25 cisterns (a traditional water harvesting and storage technique) over 4 years, from 2015 to 2018. Results showed that slope is the most controlling factor of soil loss. The average annual soil loss in monitoring sites varies between 0.01 and 12.5 t/ha/y. The storm events inducing the largest soil losses occurred in the upstream part of the Koutine catchment with a maximum value of 7.3 t/ha per event. Soil erosion is highly affected by initial and preceding soil conditions. The RUSLE model reasonably reproduced (R2 = 0.81) the spatiotemporal variability of measured soil losses in the study catchment during the observation period. This study revealed the importance of using the cisterns in the data-scarce dry areas as a substitute for the classic soil erosion monitoring fields. Besides, combining modeling of outputs and field measurements could improve our physical understanding of soil erosion processes and their controlling factors in an arid catchment. The study results are beneficial for decision-makers to evaluate the existing soil conservation and water management plans, which can be further adjusted using appropriate soil erosion mitigation options based on scientific evidence.

Application of a physically based soil erosion model, GUEST, in the absence of data on runoff rates I. Theory and methodology

Soil Research ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Yu ◽  
C. W. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Soil Erodibility ◽  
Erosion Model ◽  
Erosion Models ◽  
Loss Data ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Data Requirements

When physically based erosion models such as GUEST are used to determine soil erodibility parameters or to predict the rate of soil loss, data on runoff rates, as distinct from event runoff amount, are often needed. Data on runoff rates, however, are not widely available. This paper describes methods that can be used to overcome this lack of data on runoff rates. These methods require only rainfall rates and runoff amounts, which are usually available for sites set up primarily to test and validate the USLE technology. In addition, the paper summarises the data requirements for the erosion model GUEST and application procedures. In the accompanying paper, these methods are applied to 4 experimental sites in the ASIALAND Network.

scholarly journals Soil loss by water erosion in areas under maize and jack beans intercropped and monocultures

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Luiz Terra Lima ◽  
Marx Leandro Naves Silva ◽  
Nilton Curi ◽  
John Quinton
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Water Runoff ◽  
Jack Bean ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
Soil Losses

Adequate soil management can create favorable conditions to reduce erosion and water runoff, consequently increase water soil recharge. Among management systems intercropping is highly used, especially for medium and small farmers. It is a system where two or more crops with different architectures and vegetative cycles are explored simultaneously at the same location. This research investigated the effects of maize intercropped with jack bean on soil losses due to water erosion, estimate C factor of Universal Soil Losses Equation (USLE) and how it can be affected by soil coverage. The results obtained also contribute to database generation, important to model and estimate soil erosion. Total soil loss by erosion caused by natural rain, at Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil, were: 4.20, 1.86, 1.38 and 1.14 Mg ha-1, respectively, for bare soil, maize, jack bean and the intercropping of both species, during evaluated period. Values of C factor of USLE were: 0.039, 0.054 and 0.077 Mg ha Mg-1 ha-1 for maize, jack bean and intercropping between both crops, respectively. Maize presented lower vegetation cover index, followed by jack beans and consortium of the studied species. Intercropping between species showed greater potential on soil erosion control, since its cultivation resulted in lower soil losses than single crops cultivation, and this aspect is really important for small and medium farmers in the studied region.

scholarly journals Modelisation Du Risque D’érosion Hydrique Par L’équation Universelle Des Pertes En Terre Dans Le Rif Occidental: Cas Du Bassin Versant De Moulay Bouchta (Maroc)

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Zouagui ◽  
Mohamed Sabir ◽  
Mustapha Naimi ◽  
Mohamed Chikhaoui ◽  
Moncef Benmansour
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Erosion Rate ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Slope Length ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Effect Of Support ◽  
Soil Losses

Soil erosion causes many environmental and socio-economic problems: loss of biodiversity, decrease in the productivity of agricultural land, siltation of dams and increased risk of flooding. It is therefore essential to establish a detailed evaluation of this process before any spatial planning. To evaluate the effects of soil erosion spatially and quantitatively in order to face this phenomenon, and propose the best conservation and land development strategies, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) coupled with a geographic information system (GIS) is applied. This model is a multiplication of the five erosion factors: the erosivity of the rain, the erodibility of the soil, the inclination and the slope length, the vegetation cover and the anti-erosion practices. The study area is the Moulay Bouchta watershed (7 889 ha), which is located in the western part of the Rif Mountains, is characterized by a complex and contrasting landscape. The resulting soil loss map shows an average erosion rate of 39.5 (t/ha/yr), 87% of the basin has an erosion rate above the tolerance threshold for soil loss (7 (t/ha/yr)). Soil losses per subbasin range from 16.2 to 81.4 (t/ha/yr). The amount of eroded soil is estimated at 311,591 (t/yr), corresponding to a specific degradation of 12.1 (t/ha/yr). In the absence of any erosion control, 25% of the soil losses would reach the new dam located a little upstream of the basin outlet, reducing its water mobilization capacity to 59,625 (m3/yr). The application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to soil erosion factors shows a significant influence of topographic factor (LS) on soil erosion process, followed by the effect of support practices (P), then by soil erodibility (K).

scholarly journals From Analysis to Formulation of Strategies for Farm Advisory Services (Case Study: Valencia – Spain). an Application through Swot and Qspm Matrix

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Abbasi ◽  
Javier Esparcia ◽  
Heshmat A. Saadi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Makers ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Advisory Services ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
The Common ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Qspm Matrix ◽  
Cross Compliance ◽  
European Agriculture

Abstract European agriculture should meet new increasing internal and contextual challenges. For example, the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy in 2003 introduced the cross-compliance, among other novelties, as compulsory for farmers. To better meet this and other requirements, Member States had to set up the so-called Farm Advisory System, operational across the European Union in 2007. From a sample of actors involved in the provision of farm advisory services in the region of Valencia (Spain), the present study aimed to identify the most appropriate strategies to implement such services. SWOT method has been applied to examine the internal and external environment. Based on this diagnosis, dominance of strengths and opportunities resulted in a set of four prioritised main ‘aggressive’ strategies (using SPACE and QSPM methods), which in turn may help public decision makers and advisers in a more effective implementation of advisory services.

Exploiting Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) to assess ongoing and future soil erosion over Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Rianna ◽  
Monia Santini ◽  
Marco Mancini ◽  
Roberta Padulano ◽  
Sergio Noce
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Web Application ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Time Step ◽  
R Factor ◽  
Data Store ◽  
Daily Time Step ◽  
Soil Losses ◽  
Daily Time

<p>Soil erosion by water greatly affects Italy impacted by 24% of total soil loss of Europe, 33% of agricultural lands exposed, and costs, e.g. for crop production, up to about 600Meuro. Furthermore, expected increases in severity and magnitude of extreme precipitation events could exacerbate such an issue.</p><p>In this regard, rainfall information at very fine spatial and temporal resolution represents a key point; unfortunately, weather stations are not spread uniformly across regions and they uncommonly provide free data at sub-daily scale. Moreover, the reliable projections of how rainfall will change in the coming decades are hard to store and manage for non-experts.</p><p>In trying to overcome such a gap, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) provides several tools. The C3S is part of the Copernicus Earth Observation Programme and is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Commission. In particular, Climate Data Store (CDS) hosts rainfall time series for the historical period and most recent decades from observational (E-OBS) and reanalysis (ERA5, ERA5-Land, UERRA) datasets, at (sub) daily time step and with horizontal resolution ranging from 31 km to 5.5 km. For the future, the simulations’ ensemble within EURO-CORDEX (resolution ~12 km, daily time step) are available for robust evaluations, i.e. to consider the uncertainty due to alternative greenhouse gas concentration scenarios and model chain used.</p><p>In this context, in the last months, C3S funded the Demo Case SOIL EROSION implemented by the CMCC Foundation and aimed at assessing ongoing and future soil loss by water erosion over Italy. The Demo Case is expected to develop further specific datasets and a web-application by exploiting products and tools also provided by Climate Data Store (CDS) infrastructure.</p><p>To assess soil losses, the largely adopted Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) is selected. Such an empirical equation combines rainfall erosivity (R-factor), evaluated in this case by exploiting datasets in CDS, to soil susceptibility to erosion due to soil intrinsic properties but also to land cover, land management, and topography. Gridded datasets related to R-factor and soil losses will be then made available within the CDS catalog. Moreover, the web application will permit visualizing and retrieving trends and results for specific areas (e.g. NUTS) in the way of maps and graphs. In addition to the "Basic" mode, the Application is expected to support "what-if" analysis ("Advanced" mode) permitting to understand how variations in land use (C-factor) or management practice (P-factor) can influence soil losses at large scale under current and future conditions.</p>

scholarly journals Effects of Tillage Methods and Vegetation Coverage on Reducing Runoff and Soil Erosion

2020 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 04039
Author(s):  
Ma Changchen ◽  
Wang Ran ◽  
Li Qingyuan ◽  
Lu Fangchun
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Runoff Depth ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Tillage Methods ◽  
Runoff Plot

To study the characteristics of runoff and soil erosion of natural rainfall conditions, five standard runoff plots were set up in our experiment, and different tillage methods and vegetation coverage types were set up. The 58-month monthly precipitation data and 44-month runoff plot observation data from 2013 to 2017 were analysed. The results show that: 1) The monthly precipitation fluctuates significantly, ranging from 13mm to 683.5mm. The precipitation is unevenly distributed over the year. The largest average monthly precipitation is in June and the smallest is in January. Rainfall is mainly concentrated in the spring and summer. The precipitation from March to June accounts for 58.0% of the annual rainfall. 2) There is a positive correlation between runoff depth and precipitation in each runoff plot (R2= 0. 5101~0. 6676, Sig.<0.01); 3) There is also a positive correlation between soil loss and precipitation (R2=0. 424~0. 558, Sig.<0.01); 4) The amount of soil loss and the runoff depth increase with increasing rainfall. The runoff plot without any vegetation cover or farming measures increase the most. While the one with horizontal steps and shrubs, or a combination of arbor and grass increase the slowest, indicating that they have the best effect of reducing runoff and soil loss.

scholarly journals Long-term forecast of changes in soil erosion losses during spring snowmelt caused by climate within the plain part of Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-605
Author(s):  
Oleksandr A. Svetlitchnyi
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Baseline Period ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Relative Change ◽  
Spring Snowmelt ◽  
Soil Losses

The paper deals with the forecast of changes in erosion soil losses during the spring snowmelt due to climate change in the regions of Ukraine in the middle of the 21st century (during 2031–2050) and at its end (during 2081–2100) compared with the values of the baseline period (1961–1990). The forecast is based on the use of the so-called “hydrometeorological factor of spring soil loss”. This factor is a part of the physical-statistical mathematical model of soil erosion lossduring spring snowmelt, developed at the Department of Physical Geography of Odesa I. I. Mechnikov State (since 2000 — National) University during the 1980s – 1990s. The long-term average value of the hydrometeorological factor is linearly related to the long-term average value of spring erosion soil loss. Therefore, the relative change in the hydrometeorological factor corresponds to the relative change in soil erosion losses. The developed methodology for assessing climate-induced changes in soil erosion losses in five regions of Ukraine (North, West, Center, East and South) takes into account the change in water equivalent of snow cover at the beginning of snow melting, the change in surface runoff and its turbidity, and changes in soil erodibility. The forecast of changes in erosion soil loss was carried out using projections of annual and monthly average air temperatures and precipitation for 2031–2050 and 2081–2100 in accordance with scenario A1B from AR4 of the IPCC. As a result of the research, it was found that both in the middle and at the end of the 21st century a decrease in the rate of soil erosion during the period of spring snowmelt is expected. During 2031–2050, the expected soil losses will be less than corresponding baseline period values within the West region by 79%, within the North and East regions by 81%, and within the Center region by 85%. In the South region, the spring soil losses will be zero due to the lack of snow cover. During 2081–2100 snow cover will be absent not only in the South region, but also in the Center and East regions. In the regions North and West snow cover will remain, but the spring soil erosion losses will decrease by dozens of times and will be so small that they can also be ignored.

scholarly journals Agronomic Practices for Reducing Soil Erosion in Hillside Vineyards under Atlantic Climatic Conditions (Galicia, Spain)

Soil Systems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
José M. Mirás-Avalos ◽  
Juan M. Ramírez-Cuesta ◽  
María Fandiño ◽  
Javier J. Cancela ◽  
Diego S. Intrigliolo
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Native Vegetation ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
North West ◽  
Erosion Pins ◽  
Soil Losses ◽  
Loss Rates

Water erosion is a severe threat to soil resources, especially on cultivated lands, such as vineyards, which are extremely susceptible to soil losses. In this context, management practices aiming at reducing erosion risks must be favored. This current study aimed at estimating soil losses in two vineyards under Atlantic climatic conditions (Galicia, North West Spain). The capacity of two management practices for reducing soil erosion was tested and compared with tilled soil in the inter-rows: (i) application of mulching, and (ii) maintaining native vegetation. Soil losses were assessed using erosion pins and micro-plots. In addition, the improved stock unearthing method (ISUM) was employed in one of the vineyards to estimate soil remobilization since plantation. Soil loss rates in one of the vineyards were lower when soil was managed under mulching (0.36 Mg ha−1) and native vegetation (0.42 Mg ha−1), compared to tilled soil (0.84 Mg ha−1). Sediment losses measured in the second vineyard ranged between 0.21 and 0.69 Mg ha−1, depending on the treatment, but no clear conclusions could be drawn. Long-term soil loss, as estimated by ISUM, was of the same order of magnitude than that obtained by erosion pins and micro-plots. In both vineyards, soil loss rates were lower than those registered in Mediterranean vineyards, and were below the limit for sustainable erosion in Europe. Nevertheless, soil management practices alternative to tillage in the inter-row might reduce erosion risks under Atlantic climate conditions.

scholarly journals Sediment Influx and Its Drivers in Farmers’ Managed Irrigation Schemes in Ethiopia

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 1747
Author(s):  
Zerihun Anbesa Gurmu ◽  
Henk Ritzema ◽  
Charlotte de Fraiture ◽  
Michel Riksen ◽  
Mekonen Ayana
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Sedimentation Rate ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Overland Flow ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Maintenance Costs ◽  
Operation And Maintenance ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Soil Losses ◽  
Soil Loss Equation

Excessive soil erosion hampers the functioning of many irrigation schemes throughout sub-Saharan Africa, increasing management difficulties and operation and maintenance costs. River water is often considered the main source of sedimentation, while overland sediment inflow is overlooked. From 2016 to 2018, participatory research was conducted to assess sediment influx in two irrigation schemes in Ethiopia. Sediment influx was simulated using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and compared to the amount of sediment removed during desilting campaigns. The sediment deposition rate was 308 m3/km and 1087 m3/km, respectively, for the Arata-Chufa and Ketar schemes. Spatial soil losses amounts to up to 18 t/ha/yr for the Arata-Chufa scheme and 41 t/ha/yr for the Ketar scheme. Overland sediment inflow contribution was significantly high in the Ketar scheme accounting for 77% of the deposited sediment, while only 4% of the sedimentation at the Arata-Chufa scheme came from overland flow. Feeder canal length and the absence of canal banks increased the sedimentation rate, however, this was overlooked by the stakeholders. We conclude that overland sediment inflow is an often neglected component of canal sedimentation, and this is a major cause of excessive sedimentation and management problems in numerous irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa.

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