DEM- and GIS-Based Analysis of Soil Erosion Depth Using Machine Learning

Kieu Nguyen,Walter Chen

doi:10.3390/ijgi10070452

Abstract

Soil erosion is a form of land degradation. It is the process of moving surface soil with the action of external forces such as wind or water. Tillage also causes soil erosion. As outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) #15, it is a global challenge to “combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.” In order to advance this goal, we studied and modeled the soil erosion depth of a typical watershed in Taiwan using 26 morphometric factors derived from a digital elevation model (DEM) and 10 environmental factors. Feature selection was performed using the Boruta algorithm to determine 15 factors with confirmed importance and one tentative factor. Then, machine learning models, including the random forest (RF) and gradient boosting machine (GBM), were used to create prediction models validated by erosion pin measurements. The results show that GBM, coupled with 15 important factors (confirmed), achieved the best result in the context of root mean square error (RMSE) and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE). Finally, we present the maps of soil erosion depth using the two machine learning models. The maps are useful for conservation planning and mitigating future soil erosion.

Highlights

The United Nations General Assembly adopted 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in September 2015, which apply to all countries on the planet
The training data made up two folds of the dataset, while the remaining fold was used to evaluate the models based on root mean square error (RMSE) and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE)
Previous studies built machine learning models for the Shihmen Reservoir watershed using point data that were only available at individual slopes monitored with erosion pins

Summary

Introduction

The United Nations General Assembly adopted 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in September 2015, which apply to all countries on the planet. Soil erosion and sediment movement caused by rainfall and flooding, intense and persistent winds, agricultural activities, grazing, logging, mining, and construction result in significant damage to properties and potentially result in loss of lives, not to mention the livelihood support the land provides for communities. It is a global challenge by 2030 to “combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss,” as outlined by SDG 15

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion