Determination of Soil Erosion Vulnerability in the Lafa Basin of Ghana using RUSLE and GIS
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IJERTV9IS010121
Determination of Soil Erosion Vulnerability in the Lafa Basin of Ghana using RUSLE and GIS
Dr. Saviour Mantey , Dr. Michael S. Aduah
Soil erosion is the wearing away of the land surface by physical forces such as rainfall, flowing water, wind, temperature change, gravity, or other natural or anthropogenic agents. Soil erosion is one of the key variables used to assess and appreciate land degradation. The increased soil erosion in some portions of Lafa basin of Ghana has led to siltation of the river channel that is causing flooding in some parts of Accra, Ghana. Lafa basin is the most urbanised basin in Ghana. The objective of this study is to use Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RULSE) model and Geographical Information System (GIS) tool to determine the potential and actual soil erosion in the Lafa basin. Rainfall erosivity (R), slope length-steepness (LS), soil erodibility (K), cover management (C) and conversation practice (P) were used to generate soil erosion map and also Normalised Difference Vegetation Difference (NDVI) map from Landsat 7 image was generated to help produce cover management factor map. The model predicted 130 t/ha/yr and 51 t/ha/yr for potential and actual soil erosion of the study area, respectively. According to the model, most parts of the study area was not at risk to soil erosion although a few portions show very severe to highly severe soil erosion risks. The method developed can utilise existing data and provide results that are useful to managers when taking decisions about the management of land resources in the basin.
