A Smartphone Application to Compute Soil Erosion based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.9755/ejfa.2021.v33.i9.2734Abstract
Erosion negatively affects farming. It leads to a 50% decline in land productivity (Nellemann et al, 2009). In Africa, erosion generates significant yield reduction (Eswaran, Lal & Reich, 2001). The loss of 75 billion tons of soil per year represent a cost of US$400 billion. An acre of U.S. cropland loses 5 tons of soil per year (Briggs, 2020). Moreover, soil carried away is the source of respiratory illnesses and damages that amount to over $14 billion per year (Eswaran, Lal & Reich, 2001). Furthermore, erosion reduces soil water-holding capacity. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) is the major tool to calculate erosion caused by rainfall erosivity; the resistance of the environment (including soil erodibility; topographical factor, plant cover, and farming techniques) and human techniques (erosion control practices in farming) (Roose, 1996). RUSLE is instrumental in keeping erosion within acceptable limits. This paper presents a new, and the first of its type, smartphone application developed to help farmers and stakeholders compute soil erosion at any location in the world using the RUSLE model. Such an application can help land users to have a more accurate perception about soil erosion and its negative impact.
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References
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Arnoldus, H. 1977. Methodology used to determine the maximum potential average annual soil loss due to sheet and rill erosion in Morocco. FAO Soils Bulletin. 34: 39–51.
Assefa E, B. Hans-Rudolf. 2015. Farmers' perception of land degradation and traditional knowledge in Southern Ethiopia-Resilience and Stability. Land Degrad. Dev. 27: 1552–1561.
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Schwab, G.,D. Fangmeier, W. Elliot, R. Frevert. 1993. Soil and water conservation engineering (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Singh, G, R. Babu, S. Chandra. 1981 Soil loss prediction research in India; Tech. Bull. T-12/D-9, Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun, India.
SWAT. 2018. Theoretical documentation 2018. In SWAT2012 Input/Output File Documentation chapter 22. Available at https://swat.tamu.edu/documentation/. [Last accessed on 2021 July 10]
The, S. 2011. Soil erosion modeling using RUSLE and GIS on Cameron highlands, Malaysia for hydropower development (master’s thesis). RES, The School for Renewable Energy Science, Akureyri, Iceland.
Teshome, A, J. de Graaff, C. Ritsema, M. Kassie. 2014. Farmers' perceptions about the influence of land quality, land fragmentation and tenure systems on sustainable land mana-gement in the north western Ethiopian highlands. Land Degard. Dev. 27: 884-898.
Tirkey, A., A. Pandey, M. Nathawat. 2013. Use of satellite data, GIS and RUSLE for estimation of average annual soil loss in Daltonganj Watershed of Jharkhand (India). J. Remote Sens. Technol. 1: 20-30.
USDA, S. 1972. National Engineering Handbook, Section 4: Hydrology. Washington, DC
Vila, S., R. Rodríguez-Carreras, D. Varga, A. Ribas, X. Úbeda, F. Asperó, A. Llausàs, L. Outeiro. 2015. Stakeholder perceptions of landscape changes in the Mediterranean mountains of the North-Eastern Iberian Peninsula. Land Degard. Dev. 27: 1354–1365.
Wischmeier, W., D. Smith. 1978. Predicting rainfall erosion losses: A guide to conservation planning. In USDA/Science and Education Administration, Agriculture Handbook No. 537 (p. 58). Washington, DC: US. Govt. Printing Office.
Arnoldus, H. 1977. Methodology used to determine the maximum potential average annual soil loss due to sheet and rill erosion in Morocco. FAO Soils Bulletin. 34: 39–51.
Assefa E, B. Hans-Rudolf. 2015. Farmers' perception of land degradation and traditional knowledge in Southern Ethiopia-Resilience and Stability. Land Degrad. Dev. 27: 1552–1561.
Bazzoffi P. 2018. Soil Erodibility factor equation. Retrieved June, 2018 from http://suoli.regione.marche.it/Erosioneascaladicampo.aspx.
Blanco-Canqui H, R. Lal. 2008. Principles of soil conservation and management. Netherlands: Springer Science+Business Media.
Briggs, R. 2020. Introduction to Soils. Retrieved from College of Environmental Science and Forestry website: https://www.esf.edu/for/briggs/FOR345/erosion.htm [Last accessed
on 2020 Nov 20]
Chan, C. 1981. Conservation measures in the cultivated slopes of Taiwan. Food and Fertilizer Technology Center Taipei, Extension Bulletin 137.
Dabral P, N. Baithuri, A. Pandey. 2008. Soil erosion assessment in a hilly catchment of North Eastern India using USLE, GIS and remote sensing. Water Resour Manag. 22: 1783-1798.
Eswaran, H., R. Lal, P. Reich. 2001. Land Degradation: An overview. Natural resources conservation service soils. Retrieved from: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/use/?cid=nrcs142p2_054028. [Last accessed on 2020 Nov 20]
Foster, G., D. McCool, K. Renard, W. Moldenhauer. 1991. Conversion of the universal soil loss equation to SI metric units. J. Soil Water Consev. 36:356–359.
Foster, G., L. Meyer, C. Onstad. 1977. A runoff erosivity factor and variable slope length exponents for soil loss estimates. Trans of ASAE. 20: 683-0687.
Gobena, Y. 2003. Soil erosion assessment using remotely sensed data and ancillary data in the Desert of Tabernas, southeast Spain. ITC, Netherlands
Hashim, G., N. Wong. 1988. Erosion from steep land under various plant cover and terrains. In Th Tay, AM Mokhtaruddin, AB Zahari (Eds.) Steep land agriculture in the humid tropics. (pp. 424 – 461). Kuala Lumpur: MARDI/Malaysian Society of Soil Science.
Laflen, J., L. Lane, G. Foster. 1991. WEPP—a next generation of erosion prediction technology. J Soil Water Conserv. 46: 34–38.
McCool, D., G. Foster, C. Mutchler, L. Meyer. 1987. Revised slope steepness factor for the universal Soil Loss Equation. Trans of ASAE. 30:1387–1396.
Mir, S.,M. Gasim, S. Abd. Rahim, M. Toriman. 2010. Soil loss assessment in the Tasik Chini catchment, Pahang, Malaysia. Bull. - Geol. Soc. Malays. 56: 1-7.
Moore, W. 1992. Length slope factor for the revised universal Soil Loss Equation: Simplified method of solution. J Soil Water Conserv. 4: 423-428.
Moore, I., G. Burch. 1986. Modeling erosion and deposition: Topographic effects. Trans of ASABE. 29: 1624-1630, 1640.
Morgan, R. 1986. Soil erosion and conservation. Harlow: Longman.
Nellemann, C., M. MacDevette, T. Manders, B. Eickhout, B. Svihus, A. Prins, B. Kaltenborn. 2009. The environmental food crisis – The environment’s role in averting future food crises. A UNEP rapid response assessment. Retrieved from: https://www.grida.no/publications/154. [Last accessed
on 2020 Dec 10]
Panagos, P, P. Borrelli, K. Meusburger, C. Alewell, E. Lugato, L. Montanarella. 2015. Estimating the soil erosion cover-management factor at the European scale. Land Use Policy 48: 38-50.
Patel, V., M. Nowostawski, G.Thomson, N. Wilson, H. Medlin. 2013. Developing a smartphone “app” for public health research: The example of measuring observed smoking in vehicles. J. Epidemiol. Community Health. 67: 446–452.
Raento, M., A. Oulasvirta, N. Eagle. 2009. Smartphones: An emerging tool for social scientists. Social Method Res.37: 426-454.
Ramos, D.. 1997. Walnut production manual. Oakland, Calif: UCANR Publications.
Rao, Y. 1981. Evaluation of cropping management factor in Universal Soil Loss equation under natural rainfall condition of Kharagpur, India. In Proceedings of Southeast Asian Regional Symposium on Problems of Soil Erosion and Sedimentation, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, pp. 241-254.
Roose, E. 1996. Land husbandry: components and strategy (Vol. 70). Rome: FAO. http://www.fao.org/docrep/T1765E/t1765e0e.htm . [Last accessed on 2021 July 10]
Roose, E. 1977. Erosion et ruissellement en Afrique de l'Ouest : vingt années de mesure en parcelles expérimentales. Travaux et Doc. ORSTOM Paris n 78, 108 p.
Schwab, G.,D. Fangmeier, W. Elliot, R. Frevert. 1993. Soil and water conservation engineering (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Singh, G, R. Babu, S. Chandra. 1981 Soil loss prediction research in India; Tech. Bull. T-12/D-9, Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun, India.
SWAT. 2018. Theoretical documentation 2018. In SWAT2012 Input/Output File Documentation chapter 22. Available at https://swat.tamu.edu/documentation/. [Last accessed on 2021 July 10]
The, S. 2011. Soil erosion modeling using RUSLE and GIS on Cameron highlands, Malaysia for hydropower development (master’s thesis). RES, The School for Renewable Energy Science, Akureyri, Iceland.
Teshome, A, J. de Graaff, C. Ritsema, M. Kassie. 2014. Farmers' perceptions about the influence of land quality, land fragmentation and tenure systems on sustainable land mana-gement in the north western Ethiopian highlands. Land Degard. Dev. 27: 884-898.
Tirkey, A., A. Pandey, M. Nathawat. 2013. Use of satellite data, GIS and RUSLE for estimation of average annual soil loss in Daltonganj Watershed of Jharkhand (India). J. Remote Sens. Technol. 1: 20-30.
USDA, S. 1972. National Engineering Handbook, Section 4: Hydrology. Washington, DC
Vila, S., R. Rodríguez-Carreras, D. Varga, A. Ribas, X. Úbeda, F. Asperó, A. Llausàs, L. Outeiro. 2015. Stakeholder perceptions of landscape changes in the Mediterranean mountains of the North-Eastern Iberian Peninsula. Land Degard. Dev. 27: 1354–1365.
Wischmeier, W., D. Smith. 1978. Predicting rainfall erosion losses: A guide to conservation planning. In USDA/Science and Education Administration, Agriculture Handbook No. 537 (p. 58). Washington, DC: US. Govt. Printing Office.
Published
2021-09-10
How to Cite
Simonet, D., and T. A. Ali. “A Smartphone Application to Compute Soil Erosion Based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)”. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, vol. 33, no. 9, Sept. 2021, doi:10.9755/ejfa.2021.v33.i9.2734.
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Research Article
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