Sediment erosion and yield analysis on the coast of Kedah and Langkawi, Malaysia: A case study

Abstract

Soil erosion and sedimentation are among the most crucial environmental hazards that arise from urban development. The Geographical Information System (GIS) based method is proposed to demonstrate for the identification of sediment source areas and the prediction of storm sediment yield from catchments. The gross soil erosion was calculated by using the revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). In general, soil loss of the river basins at Kedah mainland mostly falls under “low” and “moderate” erosion risk category according to Department of Agriculture guidelines. The highest recorded value is Sg. Ruat with soil loss rate of 93.77 tonnes / ha / year. For Pulau Langkawi, most of the river basins have higher soil loss and fall under “moderate” and “moderately high” erosion risk. It is worth mentioning that there is a river basin that recorded soil loss greater than 100 tonne/ha/year, which is classified as “high” risk. The said river basin is Sg. Datai, which is located in the northern part of Pulau Langkawi.