Estimation of soil erosion using RUSLE model and GIS approaches: A case study of Birbhum District, West Bengal, India

Abstract

A serious environmental problem, particularly in developing nations, is soil erosion, particularly gully erosion. It affects ecology, ecosystems, and water quality by decreasing soil productivity, underproduction, and water contamination. By taking into account both natural and man-made factors, the RUSLE model uses a database of precipitation, soil class, topography, vegetation cover, and conservation methods to accurately predict long-term annual soil erosion amounts. Birbhum district, the western section of Jharkhand state features a divided plateau with hard, impermeable Archean crystalline rocks and laterite Gondwana deposits. According to the RUSLE model, the Birbhum district soil erosion is classified as Around 20.04% of the region undergoes soil loss less than 20 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, around 27.03% of the region is eroded of 20-40 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, around 19.98% of the region suffers from severe erosion of 40-60 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, Approximately 11.76% of the land is extremely vulnerable to erosion of 60-80 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, more than 80 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ expresses extreme risk of erosion 21.17 % area.