The following information was submitted:
Transactions: WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Transactions ID Number: 88-289
Full Name: Thomas Panagopoulos
Position: Research Director
Age: ON
Sex: Male
Address: University of Algarve
Country: PORTUGAL
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E-mail address: tpanago@ualg.pt
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Title of the Paper: Erosion Risk Map of a Foupana River Watershed in Algarve, Portugal
Authors as they appear in the Paper: Thomas Panagopoulos, Vera Ferreira
Email addresses of all the authors: tpanago@ualg.pt
Number of paper pages: 10
Abstract: Soil erosion is a major global environmental problem. In south Portugal typical ecosystems locally named "montados" are subject to extensive dry periods followed by erosive rains on fragile soils subject to intensive soil management and improper practices, such as deforestation and agricultural intensification. To assess soil erosion in these areas are important to protect water resources and to prevent loss of sustainable crop production. There has been important research in the last few years, about appropriate erosion models to predict the soil loss and sediment delivery. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model has been the most widely used for estimating annual soil loss from agricultural watersheds, because it is simple and easy to use. These models are becoming progressively more suitable in combination with geographic information systems (GIS) and geostatistical tools, as a solid base for decision making in soil conservation planning. The obj!
ectives of the study were to develop and validate a soil erosion-predicting model based on the revised RUSLE in a geographic information systems (GIS) environment. The maps resulting from the interpolation techniques were introduced in a GIS and their values reclassified. After that, spatial modeling was used do develop the final overlay map from all the information of the analyzed soil properties and RUSLE parameters simulating a "potential soil erosion map". The study showed that the serious eroded area (when sediment is higher than 50 t/ha) was 20%, but contributed for 60% sediments of the watershed. This system will be used to provide site specific land use and management methods that could decrease risk of erosion in the higher risk locations of the study watershed.
Keywords: Desertification, RUSLE, Geostatistics, Vegetation management, Decision support system, Erosion risk Portugal.
EXTENSION of the file: .doc
Special (Invited) Session: Decision support system for erosion risk assessment
Organizer of the Session: 646-165
How Did you learn about congress: jbeltrao@ualg.pt
IP ADDRESS: 94.68.169.202
