Abstract
Abstract. In 2006 UNESCO report has identified soil loss as one of the main threats of climate change with possible impact to natural and cultural heritage. The study illustrated in this paper shows the results from geomatic perspective, applying an interdisciplinary approach undertaken in order to identify major natural hazards affecting cultural landscapes and archaeological heritage in rural areas in Cyprus. In particular, Earth Observation (EO) and ground-based methods were identified and applied for mapping, monitoring and estimation of the possible soil loss caused by soil erosion. Special attention was given to the land use/land cover factor (C) and its impact on the overall estimation of the soil-loss. Cover factor represents the effect of soil-disturbing activities, plants, crop sequence and productivity level, soil cover and subsurface bio-mass on soil erosion. Urban areas have a definite role in retarding the recharge process, leading to increased runoff and soil loss in the broader area. On the other hand, natural vegetation plays a predominant role in reducing water erosion. The land use change was estimated based on the difference of the NDVI value between Landsat 5 TM and Sentinel-2 data for the period between 1980s’ until today. Cover factor was then estimated for both periods and significant land use changes were further examined in areas of significant cultural and natural landscape value. The results were then compared in order to study the impact of land use change on the soil erosion and hence on the soil loss rate in the selected areas.
Highlights
Soil erosion, has a negative impact on ecosystem services, crop production, drinking water, carbon stocks and it can seriously threaten and damage landscapes features, agricultural landscapes and natural resources in general
In order to evaluate the impact of land use change to the soil erosion estimation, authors here propose to proceed in four main steps (Figure 5): 1) Step 1: Calculation of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); 2) Step 2: Estimation of the Land use Land Cover (LULC) changes as calculated by the difference and thresholding of the NDVI images; 3) Step 3: Calculation of the RUSLE C factor; 4) Step 4: Temporal difference of the C factor, highlighting significant changes in land cover with potential impact on the soil erosion
It has been acknowledged that the way in which the land is used varies over time this will inevitably effect the soil loss of any area
Summary
Soil erosion, has a negative impact on ecosystem services, crop production, drinking water, carbon stocks and it can seriously threaten and damage landscapes features, agricultural landscapes and natural resources in general. Soil erosion is considered one of the major climate change threats affecting cultural heritage and landscapes In Panagos et al (2015), an annually total soil loss of 970 Mt has been estimated for the European Union, highlighting that the highest rates have been observed in Mediterranean countries. The study has shown that eight Mediterranean countries of European Union (including Cyprus) account the 67% of the total soil loss of all 28 EU Member States. A high soil loss rate in these Mediterranean countries is probably caused by the highest rainfall erosivity of Europe. The focus is given on the impact of land use change to soil erosion, especially with regards to landscapes with cultural interest and archaeological heritage sites
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