Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Soil erosion prediction using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in a GIS framework, Chania, Northwestern Crete, Greece

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Geology

Abstract

Soil erosion is a growing problem in southern Greece and particularly in the island of Crete, the biggest Greek island with great agricultural activity. Soil erosion not only decreases agricultural productivity, but also reduces the water availability. In the current study, an effort to predict potential annual soil loss has been conducted. For the prediction, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) has been adopted in a Geographical Information System framework. The RUSLE factors were calculated (in the form of raster layers) for the nine major watersheds which cover the northern part of the Chania Prefecture. The R-factor was calculated from monthly and annual precipitation data. The K-factor was estimated using soil maps available from the Soil Geographical Data Base of Europe at a scale of 1:1,000,000. The LS-factor was calculated from a 30-m digital elevation model. The C-factor was calculated using Remote Sensing techniques. The P-factor in absence of data was set to 1. The results show that an extended part of the area is undergoing severe erosion. The mean annual soil loss is predicted up to ∼200 (t/ha year−1) for some watersheds showing extended erosion and demanding the attention of local administrators.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnoldus HMJ (1980) An approximation of the rainfall factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation. In: De Boodt M, Gabriels D (eds) Assessment of erosion. Wiley, Chichester, pp 127–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronica G, Ferro V (1997) Rainfall erosivity over Calabrian region. Hydrol Sci J 42(1):35–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagarello V (1994) Procedure semplificate per la stima del fattore climatico délia USLE nelPambiente molisano (Simplified procedures for estimating the climatic factor of the USLE in Molise, in Italian). Atti delta Giornata di Studio Sviluppi Recenti delle Ricerche sull’Ewsione e sul suo Controllo, Bari, 17–18 February 1994

  • Banasik K, Gôrski D (1994) Rainfall erosivity for South-East Poland. In: Rickson RJ (ed) Conserving soil resources. European perspectives. Lectures in soil erosion control, Silsoe College, Cranfield University, UK, pp 201–207

  • Benkobi L, Trlica MJ, Smith JL (1994) Evaluation of a refined surface cover subfactor for use in RUSLE. J Range Manage 47:74–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergsma E (1980) Provisional rain-erosivity map of The Netherlands. In: De Boodt M, Gabriels D (eds) Assessment of erosion. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Biesemans J, Meirvenne MV, Gabriels D (2000) Extending the RUSLE with the Monte Carlo error propagation technique to predict long-term average off-site sediment accumulation. J Soil Water Conserv 55:35–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolinne A, Laurant A, Rosseau P (1980) Provisional rain-erosivity map of Belgium. In: De Boodt M, Gabriels D (eds) Assessment of erosion. Wiley, Chichester, pp 111–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle M (2002) Erosion’s contribution to greenhouse gases. Erosion Control 9:64–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown LR (1984) Conserving soils. In: Brown LR (ed) State of the world. Norton, New York, pp 53–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Chartzoulakis KS, Paranychianakis NV, Angelakis AN (2001) Water resources management in the island of Crete, Greece, with emphasis on the agricultural use. Water Policy 3:193–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox C, Madramootoo C (1998) Application of Geographic Information Systems in watershed management planning in St. Lucia. Comput Electron Agric 20:229–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erdogan EH, Erpul G, Bayramin I (2007) Use of USLE/GIS methodology for predicting soil loss in a semiarid agricultural environment. Environ Monit Assess 131:153–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez C, Wu JQ, McCool DK, Stockle CO (2003) Estimating water erosion and sediment yield with GIS, RUSLE,and SEDD. J Soil Water Conserv 58:128–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferro V, Giordano G, Lovino M (1991) Isoerosivity and erosion risk map for Sicily. Hydrol Sci J 36(6):549–564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferro V, Porto P, Yu B (1999) A comparative study of rainfall erosivity estimation for Southern Italy and southeastern Australia. Hydrol Sci J Sci Hydrol 44(1):3–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fu G, Chen S, McCool KD (2006) Modeling the impacts of no-till practice on soil erosion and sediment yield using RUSLE, SEDD and ArcView GIS. Soil Tillage Res 85:38–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabriels D, Cadron W, De Mey P (1986) Provisional rain erosivity maps of some EC countries. In: Proc. workshop on erosion assessment and modeling, Brussels, Belgium

  • Gong J (2001) Geography information system. Science Publishing, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Haan CT, Barfield BJ, Hayes JC (1994) Design hydrology and sedimentology for small catchments. Academic Press, San Diego, 588pp

  • Hussein MH (1986) Rainfall erosivity in Iraq. J Soil Water Conserv 41:336–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Kouli M, Vallianatos F, Soupios P, Alexakis D (2007) A GIS example of morphometric analysis in two major watersheds of Western Crete, Greece. J Environ Hydrol 15(1):1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Krahl J, Kauffmann G, Kozur H, Richter D, Forster O, Heinritzi F (1983) Neue Daten zur Biostratigraphie und zur tektonischen Lagerung der Phyllit-Gruppe und der Trypali-Gruppe aufder Insel Kreta (Griechenland). Geol Rundsch 72:1147–1166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (1990) Soil erosion in the tropics: principles and management. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (1994) Soil erosion by wind and water: problems and prospects. In: Lal R (ed) Soil erosion research methods, 2nd edn. Soil and Water Conservation Society, St. Lucie Press, America pp 1–9

  • Lal R (2001) Soil conservation for C sequestration. In: Stott DE, Mohtar RH, Steinhardt GC (eds) Proceedings of the 10th international soil conservation organization meeting, 24–29 May 1999, West Lafayette, pp 459–465

  • Lewis LA, Verstraeten G, Zhu H (2005) RUSLE applied in a GIS framework: calculating the LS factor and deriving homogeneous patches for estimating soil loss. Int J Geogr Inf Sci 19(7):809–829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim KJ, Sagong M, Engel BA, Tang Z, Choi J, Kim KS (2005) GIS-based sediment assessment tool Catena 64:61–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lo A, El-Swaify SA, Dangler EW, Shinshiro L (1985) Effectiveness of EI30 as an erosivity index in Hawaii. In: El-Swaify SA, Moldenhauer WC, Lo A (eds) So/7 erosion and conservation. Soil Conservation Society of America, Ankeny, pp 384–392

    Google Scholar 

  • McCool DK, Brown LC, Foster GR (1987) Revised slope steepness factor for the universal soil loss equation. Trans Am Soc Agric Eng 30:1387–1396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikhailova EA, Bryant RB, Schwager SJ, Smith SD (1997) Predicting rainfall erosivity in Honduras. Soil Sci Soc Am J 61:273–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millward AA, Mersey JE (1999) Adapting the RUSLE to model soil erosion potential in a mountainous tropical watershed. Catena 38:109–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitasova H, Hofierka J, Zlocha M, Iverson LR (1996) Modeling topographic potential for erosion and deposition using GIS. Int J GIS 10:629–642

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitsios J, Pashalidis C, Panagias K (1995) Soil erosion—mitigation techniques to soil erosion. Zymel Editions, Athens

  • Molnar DK, Julien PY (1998) Estimation of upland erosion using GIS. Comput Geosci 24:183–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan RPC (1992) Soil erosion in the northern countries of the European Community. EIW Workshop: elaboration of a framework of a code of good agricultural practices, Brussels, 21–22 May 1992

  • Nyakatawa EZ, Reddy KC, Lemunyon JL (2001) Predicting soil erosion in conservation tillage cotton production systems using the revised universal soil loss equation. Soil Till Res 57:213–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oldeman LR, Hakkeling RTA, Sombroek WG (1991) World map of the status of human-induced soil degradation, with explanatory note (second revised edition)—ISRIC, Wageningen; UNEP, Nairobi

  • Onori F, De Bonis P, Grauso S (2006) Soil erosion prediction at the basin scale using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) in a catchment of Sicily (southern Italy). Environ Geol 50:1129–1140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouyang D, Bartholic J (1997) Predicting sediment delivery ratio in Saginaw Bay watershed. In: Proceedings of the 22nd National Association of Environmental Professionals Conference, 19–23 May 1997, Orlando, FL, pp 659–671

  • Renard KG, Foster GR (1983) Soil conservation: principles of erosion by water. In: Dregne HE, Willis WO (eds) Dryland agriculture. Agronomy Monograph No. 23. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 155–176

  • Renard KG, Freimund JR (1994) Using monthly precipitation data to estimate the R factor in the revised USLE. J Hydrol 157:287–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renard KG, Foster GR, Weesies GA, McCool DK (1996) Predicting soil erosion by water. A guide to conservation planning with the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE). Agric. Handbook 703. US Govt Print Office, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Renard KG, Foster GR, Weesies GA, McCool DK, Yoder DC (1997) Predicting soil erosion by water: a guide to conservation planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Agriculture Handbook No. 703, USDA-ARS

  • Stocking MA, Elwell HA (1973) Prediction of sub-tropical storm soil losses from field plot studies. Agric Meteorol 12:193–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsagarakis KP, Dialynas GE, Angelakis AN (2004) Water resources management in Crete (Greece) including water recycling and reuse and proposed quality criteria. Agric Water Manage 66:35–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Knijff M, Jones RJA, Montanarella L (1999) Soil erosion risk in Italy. EUR19022 EN. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 54p

  • Van der Knijff JM, Jones RJA, Montanarella L (2000) Soil erosion risk assessment in Europe. EUR 19044 EN. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 34p

  • Van Leeuwen WJD, Sammons G (2004) Vegetation dynamics and soil erosion modeling using remotely sensed data (MODIS) and GIS. Tenth Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conference, 5–9 April 2004, Salt Lake City, UT. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center, Salt Lake City:

  • Van Lynden GWJ (1995) European soil resources. Nature and environment No.71. Council of Europe, Strasbourg

  • Van Remortel RD, Hamilton ME, Hickey RJ (2001) Estimating the LS factor for RUSLE through iterative slope length processing of digital elevation data within ArcInfo Grid. Cartography 30(1):27–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wischmeier WH (1959) A rainfall erosion index for a universal soil-loss equation. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 23:246–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wischmeier WH, Smith DD (1965) Predicting rainfall-erosion losses from ropland east of the Rocky Mountains. Guide for selection of practices for soil and water conservation. Agric. Handbook, 282. US Gov. Print. Office, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Wischmeier WH, Smith DD (1978) Predicting rainfall erosion losses—a guide to conservation planning. Agriculture Handbook No. 537. US Department of Agriculture Science and Education Administration, Washington, DC, USA, 163 pp

  • Wu Q, Dong D (2001) GIS based theories and methods for investigations of geological hazard and water resources. Geology Publishing Company, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu Q, Wang M (2007) A framework for risk assessment on soil erosion by water using an integrated and systematic approach. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.01.022

  • Yitayew M, Pokrzywka SJ, Renard KG (1999) Using GIS for facilitating erosion estimation. Appl Eng Agric 15:295–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoder D, Lown J (1995) The Future of RUSLE: inside the new revised universal soil loss equation. J Soil Water Conserv 50(5):484–489

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu B, Rosewell CJ (1996a) An assessment of a daily rainfall erosivity model for New South Wales. Aust J Soil Res 34:139–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu B, Rosewell CJ (1996b) Rainfall erosivity estimation using daily rainfall amounts for South Australia. Aust J Soil Res 34:721–733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu B, Rosewell CJ (1996c) A robust estimator of the R factor for the Universal Soil Loss Equation. Trans Am Soc Agric Eng 39(2):559–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The project is co-funded by the European Social Fund and National Resources in the framework of the project INTERREG III B ARCHIMED, sub-project A1.020 entitled “MILDMAP—Methodology Integration of EO techniques as operative tool for Land Degradation Management and planning in Mediterranean Areas”. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments and valuable suggestions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Natural Resources and Natural Hazards, Center of Technological Research of Crete (CTRC), 3 Romanou, Chalepa, 73133, Chania, Crete, Greece

    Maria Kouli, Pantelis Soupios & Filippos Vallianatos

Authors
  1. Maria Kouli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pantelis Soupios
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Filippos Vallianatos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Kouli.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kouli, M., Soupios, P. & Vallianatos, F. Soil erosion prediction using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in a GIS framework, Chania, Northwestern Crete, Greece. Environ Geol 57, 483–497 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1318-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1318-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy