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Estimation of soil erosion in some sections of Lower Jinsha River based on RUSLE

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Abstract

Soil erosion increasingly poses a great threat to human food security and environmental quality. It is necessary to implement the assessment of soil erosion so as to provide precautionary measures and relevant suggestions for soil conservation. In this paper, the soil erosion model, revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE), was used to quantify the soil loss in a large mountainous area of Lower Jinsha River Basin. The analysis of the datasets by means of geographic information systems (GIS) together with RUSLE led to the estimation of soil erosion. Results show that the average annual soil erosion was estimated at 52.1 t ha−1 year−1 and the total annual soil loss was 4.5 × 108 t. The highest erosion was found along the main course of Jinsha River. Soil erosion was serious in the elevation zone between 1,675 and 2,153 m and slope zone with slopes between 15° and 35°. As for land use types, cropland and grassland contributed 84.1 % to total soil loss due to the large areas and higher erosion rates. The results can be used to advice the local government in prioritizing the areas of immediate conservation practices.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Key Technology Support Program of China (No. 2012BAC06B02) and Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB03030400). We thank the Cold and Arid Regions Science Data Center at Lanzhou, Geospatial Data Cloud of Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System and the Vlaamse Instelling Voor Technologish Onderzoek for providing some datasets. All assistance received has been greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Liguang Jiang, Zhijun Yao, Zhaofei Liu, Shanshan Wu, Rui Wang & Lei Wang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Rui Wang & Lei Wang

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  1. Liguang Jiang
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  2. Zhijun Yao
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Correspondence to Zhijun Yao.

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Jiang, L., Yao, Z., Liu, Z. et al. Estimation of soil erosion in some sections of Lower Jinsha River based on RUSLE. Nat Hazards 76, 1831–1847 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1569-6

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