Potential Soil Erosion Modeled with RUSLE Approach and Geospatial Techniques (GIS Tools and Remote Sensing) in Oued Joumouaa Watershed (Western Prerif-Morocco)

Abstract

Water erosion is a complicated phenomenon that contributes to soil degradation and is linked to natural and anthropogenic causes that are difficult to manage in time and space. It has a significant impact on our country and necessitates a number of studies and efforts to prevent and manage it. Geospatial approaches (GIS tools and remote sensing (RS) data) were used to test the RUSLE strategy in the Joumouaa watershed, where it was found to be accurate. The latter is a mountainous range with a 60 km² area that is part of the Western Prérif and in the Teroual region (northern Morocco). The proposed technique integrates the RUSLE for calculating erosion with geospatial techniques for detecting variables that cause water erosion and soil loss. The erosivity factor R had a range of values, with an average of 1832.76 to 1968.87. It was shown that soils had an erodibility factor k of 0.016 to 0.0245, which indicates that they are the most vulnerable. With the upstream being rougher and more sensitive, the LS factor ranged from O and more than 43%. According to the nature of the land, there are different C factors. Water erosion affects all regions of the basin to varying degrees, depending on the processes that cause erosion. The results show that the soils in the Joumouaa watershed are medium to highly erodible, with maximum erodibility ranging from 50 to 280 t/h/year, a sparse plant covers with little protection, and moderate to high climatic aggressiveness. An understanding of the danger of soil erosion may be gained from this study, as well as a guide for land management techniques and land planning that can be used to construct a decision support tool in terms of natural resource management.