Abstract
The objective of this study was to develop a GIS-based decision support system (GIS-USLE system) to estimate soil erosion and evaluate its effect on concentrated upland plots in Godang district, Korea. This system was developed for the ArcView environment using A VENUE script. Three modules were used in the GIS-USLE system, namely pre-processing, the USLE factors calculator module, and post-processing. This system benefits from a user friendly environment that allows users with limited computer knowledge to use it. This system was applied to 1,285 individual upland plots ranging from 0.005 to 1.347 ha in size with an average slope steepness of 14 %. The rainfall distributions were estimated using the three methods, namely Mononobe and Yen-Chow with Triangle and with Trapezoid type, and then used to calculate the rainfall erosivity factor. The soil erosion amounts from the 1,285 individual plots in the study area by 2 year return period with a 24h maximum rainfall amount of 154.6 mm were estimated at 5 tons/ha on average. Slope appeared to be the most important factor affecting soil erosion estimation, as expected. The prototype model was applied to the project area, and the results appeared to support the practical applications. By examining many fields simultaneously, this system can easily provide fast estimation of soil erosion and thus reveal the spatial pattern of erosion from fields in a region. This study will help estimate and evaluate soil erosion in concentrated upland districts and identify the best management practices.
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