GIS and RS in Empirical Soil Loss Models

Soil erosion is a serious worldwide environmental problem that stems from a combination of several factors such as agricultural intensification, deforestation, increasing population, and rainstorms. This phenomenon produces a soil fertility decline, removes soil rich in nutrients and increases natural level of sedimentation in the rivers and reservoirs reducing their storage capacity as well as life span (Amore et al., 2004; Pandey et al., 2007; Bouaziz et al., 2011). Quantify and identify the zones with the highest erosion trend, sediment yield, and sediment deposition are necessary for watershed management policies. For instance, soil conservation measurements can reduce land degradation and assure a sustainable management of soil resources (Amore et al., 2004; Bouaziz et al., 2011). Over time, different empirical models have being developed however, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) given by Wischmeier and Smith (1978) is extensively used for prioritization of the watersheds (Pandey et al., 2007). Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) facilitate the data management to estimate the model parameters (Amore et al., 2004; Pandey et al., 2007; Vemu et al., 2010; Bouaziz et al., 2011).