Temporal soil erosion risk evaluation: a CORINE methodology application at Elmalı dam watershed, Istanbul

Abstract

Geographical information systems (GIS)-based soil erosion risk assessment models continue to play an important role in soil conservation planning. In the present study, soil erosion risk of Istanbul–Elmali dam watershed was determined within GIS-based COoRdination of INformation on the Environment (CORINE) soil erosion risk assessment method. Initially soil texture, soil depth, and surface stoniness maps were created and were intersected in GIS environment in order to generating erodibility map. Then, Fournier precipitation and Bagnouls–Gaussen drought indices determined based on meteorological data and erosivity were calculated. The composed erodibility map was co-evaluated within erosivity value and slope map of the site for composing potential erosion risk map. At the final step, the previous yearly land use maps which belong to years 1984, 1992, and 2003 intersected with potential erosion risk maps and temporal actual erosion risk alteration were assessed. In conclusion, according to our results in Elmali watershed dam in 1984 there have been low, medium, and high erosion risks at rates 29.67, 52.49, and 17.84%, respectively, whereas in 2003 the erosion risk values have changed from low to high as 26.43, 46.57, and 27.00%, respectively. Inter-year comparison alteration to the advantage of the high erosion risk could have resulted from over degradation and high exposure to anthropogenic activities.