Soil erosion vulnerability assessment in the eco-sensitive Himalayan
region using modeling approach
Abstract
Soil loss due to erosion has a huge impact on worldwide economy and
environment. Himalayan region is extremely vulnerable to erosion due to
rugged terrain, erratic precipitation and excessive anthropogenic
pressures. This study attempts to assess the spatial distribution of
soil loss for managing soil disintegration rates in the western
Himalayas using GIS modeling approach. Factors affecting soil erosion
were assessed and mapped using primary data from the field and secondary
data. Map layers were developed for each identified factors and modeled
using weighted overlay analysis. The rainfall-runoff erosivity, soil
erodibility, topographic, cover management and support parameters varied
around 361.75 MJ mm/ha/h/yr, (0.024 - 0.051) t ha h/ha/MJ/mm, 0 to
585.372, 0 to 1 and 0 to 1 respectively. The yearly soil disintegration
rate varied between 0 and 6098.44 t ha/yr. The maximum area (137165.30
ha) of the district’s total area (146295.142 ha) was under the less
vulnerable class and the minimum (259.92 ha) was under the severely
vulnerable category. The findings reported 70.24% of the area was under
the less vulnerable class, followed by extremely vulnerable (10.48%)
> highly vulnerable (7.40%) > severely
vulnerable (7.19%) > moderately vulnerable (4.69%). The
maximum (810 t/ha) and minimum (15 t/ha) mean soil loss was found under
severely vulnerable and less vulnerable categories. The findings will
provide site specific data regarding soil loss and vulnerability for
effective management of soils in the eco-sensitive region.