Abstract
In Morocco, the phenomena of water erosion cause significant economic losses mainly linked to the silting up of dams, the degradation of equipment and socio-economic infrastructures, the loss of soil productivity and the insecurity of the population. The SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model was used to estimate the quantities of sediments generated by the various erosive processes at the level of the Ourika watershed. The SWAT modeling, which is done with daily time steps, used as basic data; a Digital Elevation Model GDEM-ASTER (Global Digital Elevation-Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) with 30 m of resolution, a land cover map developed from the Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) satellite image of 2017 with 30 m of resolution and a soil map published by FAO (Harmonized World Soil Database). Also, daily meteorological data from the Tensift Water Basin Agency over a period from 1992 to 2001 were used. The results obtained showed that soil losses due to water erosion in the Ourika watershed reached an average of 9.18 t.ha-1.year-1. The model was calibrated and validated using the SWAT-CUP (SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Procedures) software SUFI-2 (Sequential Uncertainty Fitting) and after several simulations and iterations a determination coefficient R2 of 0.76 was obtained.
Highlights
Water erosion is a phenomenon that manifests itself through the degradation of land by rainwater runoff and causes significant economic losses, mainly linked to the silting up of dams, the degradation of equipment and socio-economic infrastructures, the loss of soil productivity and the insecurity of the population
The purpose of this study is to evaluate annual soil losses using the Soil and Water Assessment tool (SWAT) (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model, a model developed by [3] for the American Department of Agriculture (USDA), the SWAT model makes it possible to integrate climatic, hydrological and biological data as well as complex phenomena such as erosion, infiltration and agricultural practices
It should be noted that this work was conducted on ArcSWAT, which is a combination of the SWAT model and the ArcGIS graphical user interface
Summary
Water erosion is a phenomenon that manifests itself through the degradation of land by rainwater runoff and causes significant economic losses, mainly linked to the silting up of dams (loss of 1.7 MM m3 of storage capacity since 1950 [1]), the degradation of equipment and socio-economic infrastructures, the loss of soil productivity and the insecurity of the population. The quantification and mapping of erosion are fundamental tools to know the distribution and geographical extent of the phenomenon, thanks to these tools it is possible to incorporate this phenomenon as a factor in the process of land use planning, and more in the process of integrated management of mountain areas. The purpose of this study is to evaluate annual soil losses using the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model, a model developed by [3] for the American Department of Agriculture (USDA), the SWAT model makes it possible to integrate climatic, hydrological and biological data as well as complex phenomena such as erosion, infiltration and agricultural practices. It should be noted that this work was conducted on ArcSWAT, which is a combination of the SWAT model and the ArcGIS graphical user interface
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