Erosion Hazard Assessment Research Articles

Assessment of Land Erosion Hazard in the Sampean Hulu Sub Watershed, Bondowoso Regency

Assessment of Land Erosion Hazard in the Sampean Hulu Sub Watershed, Bondowoso Regency

Assessment of soil erosion hazard and its relation to land use land cover changes: Case study from alage watershed, central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Soil erosion by water and wind is among the most crucial land degradation processes in Ethiopia. This is also the case for Alage watershed located in the cental Rift Valley system. This study aimed at assessment of soil erosion hazard and its relation to land use land cover change in the watershed during the period from 1984 to 2016 for a better land management. The study is based on application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) to extract inputs factor values for the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Time-series satellite imageries of Landsat TM 1984, ETM+ 2000 and OLI 2016 were used for land use land cover change detection and determination of cover management (C) factor of the RUSLE. Biophysical data such as rainfall, soil properties, land management practices including soil and water conservation measures within the watershed were collected using field survey and secondary data sources. Slope steepness and slope length factors were derived using Digital Elevaition Model (DEM). Long-term average annual soil loss rates were estimated by the RUSLE integrated with GIS for 1984, 2000 and 2016. Using satellite imageries, the land use land cover and changes within the watershed during the three periods were obtained through a supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithim. The results of land use land cover change indicated that the proportion of rain-fed cropland, bare land and built up areas increased by 17.4%, 5.9% and 2.9% respectively over the three study period. In contrast the proportion of bush/shrub land, irrigated cropland, grass land, forested areas and waterbodies decresaed by 15.5%, 4.7%, 3.4%, 2.3% and 0.3% respectively during the same period. Estimated average annual soil loss rates showed an increasing trend from 24.3 ton ha−1 yr−1 in 1984 to 38 ton ha−1 yr−1 in 2016. Increasing trends of average annual soil loss rate is attributed to increased proportion of cropland, bare land and built up areas during those periods leading to decreased protective vegetation cover. Hotspot areas within the watershed require implementation of land management practices to prevent further degradation and expansion of gullies. This study is relevant to demonstrate environmental implication of land use land cover change for future land management practices and land use policy in the Rift Valley of central Ethiopia.

Soil erosion hazard assessment using the RUSLE model for the Taung Watershed of Ramotswa Agricultural District in Botswana

The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model integrated with Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) was positively validated to spatially assess soil erosion risk in the Taung Watershed of Ramotswa Agricultural District during the period 2000 – 2020. The estimated annual soil erosion averaged 12.04 and 12.74 t/ha/year in 2000 and 2020, respectively. The Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) and soil type were found to be key determinants of high soil erosion hazard when using RUSLE. The soil erosion assessment tools enabled prioritization of high erosion prone areas in the study area for soil conservation planning and watershed management.

Assessment of Soil Erosion Hazards in Kambiti Subcatchment, Murang’a County, Kenya

Erosion is a global problem that destroys soil and adversely affects ecosystem productivity. Soil erosion generally involves many processes but the major activities involve particles being transported and deposited to another location. With an increasing population, soil erosion, water availability, energy production, and biodiversity loss are some of the most pressing environmental problems around the world. Erosion is a hazard associated with agriculture in tropical and semi-arid areas. Kambiti sub catchment is part of the upper Tana catchment. The upper Tana catchment includes 25% of Kenya gazette forest. A large area of land has been degraded, resulting in a drastic reduction in surface water availability during the dry season and poor-quality water during the wet season caused by high silt levels. The main objective of the study is to assess erosion hazards using RUSLE model in Kambiti sub catchment area, Murang’a County. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the effect of rainfall erosivity and soil erodibility factor in Kambiti Sub catchment area in Murang’a County, to determine effect of slope factor to soil loss in Kambiti Sub-catchment area in Murang’a County, to determine the effect of crop protection and management factor in Kambiti Sub catchment area in Murang’a County to soil loss and to determine the strategies for management of soil and water in Kambiti Sub catchment area in Murang’a County. Data was collected from the catchment and analyzed using arc Geographical Information System to obtain the specific parameters in the revised universal soil loss equation model. Interpolation method was used to determine the mean annual precipitation. The k factor is a function of soil texture. Shape file for geological structure for Kenya was obtained from Kenya Agriculture and livestock Research Organisation and analyzed by use of arc GIS to obtain soil erodibility factor. The slope factor was analyzed using digital elevation model from arc view. Digital elevation model was gotten from STRM download. The C factor was derived from Landsat imagery from sentinel of 30metres by 30 metres. It was further analysed by unsupervised classification from Arc GIS. The sentinel clip of Kambiti sub-catchment was joined with ground trothing observations. The results were useful in estimation of soil loss therefore profiling the areas prone to soil loss. Study findings indicated rain drop impact and runoff were primarily responsible for causing erosion in Kambiti sub catchment. Anthropogenic factors played an important role in amplifying the severity of the damage, such as persistent vegetative degradation and destruction of soil structure due to organic matter depletion and routine shallow tillage. In recent years, erosion control has been hampered by the occurrence of gaps in knowledge regarding the integrated nature of erosion processes, leading to land damage caused by rill and inter-rill erosion going unaddressed. Poor people and those lacking capital to invest in reclaiming land are the main causes of abandoning degraded land. Through strategic awareness campaigns and education, soil erosion will be assessed and the knowledge gap will be closed. Participation of farmers in land use decisions is inevitable as it ensures that people who utilize land resources are recognized as equal partners in identifying problems and designing solutions. It was also recommended that Identification and operationalization of alternative off-farm income.

Assessment of soil erosion hazard and factors affecting farmers’ adoption of soil and water management measure: A case study from Upper Domba Watershed, Southern Ethiopia

Soil erosion is a serious and continuous environmental problem in the highlands of Ethiopia, particularly, in the study watershed. The purpose of the study was to assess potential annual soil loss and factors affecting the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Domba watershed. In the study, rainfall data, satellite imageries, and digital soil map were used to determine the RUSLE factors. In addition, household data was used to assess contributing factors to erosion hazards in the area. Furthermore, Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation along with Remote Sensing Techniques, Geographical Information System, multiple regression model was used in analysing the data to find out the contributing factors for the severe soil erosion in the study area. The study result revealed that the estimated annual soil loss of the watershed was ranging between 0 to 95 t ha -1 y -1. Degraded mountain ranges of Sule and Gana kare-Woyza ridges contributed majority (more than 82%) soil loss in the watershed. This part of the watershed was categorized under severe erosion intensity class and levelled in priority list for intervention measure. The study further showed that there exists a strong positive relationship (r = 0.874) between adoption of improved SWC measures and the independent variables used in the study at 0.05 significant level. Among these variables, plot area, plot distance to residence and perception of erosion problem significantly but negatively influences adoption of improved SWC practices. The study further showed that above 77.6% of the variance of adoption of SWC measures were explained by eleven variables used in the study. Therefore, to revert the severity of soil erosion, both government and non-government institutions should enhance timely and proper management measure in the study watershed.

Modeling and Mapping of Soil Water Erosion Risks in the Srou Basin (Middle Atlas, Morocco) Using the EPM Model, GIS and Magnetic Susceptibility

Abstract The Oued Srou watershed located in the Middle Atlas Mountain of Morocco has been a subject of serious soil erosion problems due to the combination of natural factors and anthropic activities. Therefore, soil erosion hazard assessment and mapping can be handy to initiate remedial measures in the area. In this study, the improved Erosion Potential Model (EPM) integrated with GIS and remote sensing techniques is employed to map and assess the vulnerability of the Oued Srou watershed to the water erosion phenomenon and its impact on the silting of the Ahmed El Hansali dam. The results of the EPM model showed that the maximum annual soil loss rates were in the range of 5-652 m3/km2/year, with an average of 49 m3/km2/year. The delivery coefficient ratio showed that about 34433 t/year of the sediments reach the outlet of the watershed. The correlation analysis between all erosion factors revealed the following order of their importance in the water erosion control: soil sensitivity to erosion, soil protection, slope, erosive state, temperature, and rainfall. The magnetic susceptibility provided results on the evolution of soils; it showed that the most degraded soils had a high erosion rate. Generally, the stable soils not eroded showed an upward increase of magnetic susceptibility values in soil profiles; the evolution of magnetic susceptibility of degraded soils is disturbed. The magnetic susceptibility has also made it possible to highlight the source zones of sediments that reach the outlet of the watershed.

Assessment of soil erosion hazard and its mapping using GIS technologies

The article presents a method for creating a territory erosion hazard integrated map using RUSLE integral model, Earth remote sensing data and GIS technologies. The studies carried out on this topic are presented, the analysis of which has shown a more active use of integral indicators of water-erosion processes in foreign scientific works. Urgency of updating methodology for studying erosion processes has been substantiated. Theoretical foundations of the application of integral models of soil erosion are given, the application of the RUSLE model is substantiated, and the optimal way of using this model is proposed. The research methodology has been developed, consisting of primary processing of remote sensing data, calculation of the factors of erosion development and creation of a territory erosion hazard integrated map. Based on the processing of aerial photography materials, a point cloud, a digital elevation model and an orthomosaic map of the study area were created. The results of the geoinformation analysis of the remote sensing data, which included calculation of the soil erodibility factor and the topographic factor, are presented. Based on the integral indicator of watererosion hazard, a complex map of the erosion hazard of the territory has been created. Main patterns of geographical distribution of the values of the integral indicator of the water-erosion hazard of the territory are revealed, devised methodology is assessed. It was found that the schematic map reflects the general pattern of water erosion processes: they are more active in places where more dissected relief is spread. Influence of the soil factor on the pattern of the schematic map is shown: the pattern in the territories occupied by sod-podzolic loamy soils qualitatively differs from the pattern on the lands where sod-podzolic sandy loam soils are widespread. Patterns on the schematic map of different parts of the developed linear forms of relief, formed by temporary streams, are described. It is shown that the proposed method can be used to assess the water-erosion hazard of the territory. The need to take into account a larger number of factors and to refine the assessment of existing ones is concluded.

Assessment of Soil Erosion Hazard in Prambanan District Using RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation)

Prambanan District which located in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta Province has the potential for land degradation due to erosion processes. With the characteristics of annual rainfall more than 2000 mm / year, topography with a slope of more than 20% in upland areas, as well as the conversion of upland to dryland agriculture are factors that can trigger the erosion process more quickly. If the rate of erosion speed exceeds the ability of the soil to regenerate the soil body, its productivity will be disrupted and accelerate the formation of critical soil. Therefore, it is necessary to know the estimated rate of erosion, tolerable distribution of erosion, and the potential danger of erosion that occurs. The purpose of this study was to (1) predict the rate of erosion, (2) calculate the permissible erosion value, (3) identify the rate & index of erosion hazard. Data were collected using field surveys and soil sampling using stratified random sampling techniques with land units as the unit of analysis. The value of erosion was predicted using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) method. The RUSLE method is described by the following equation, A=R*K*L*S*C*P, where; A as estimated averages annual loss of soil, R is the rainfall erosivity factor, K is the soil erodibility factor, LS is the slope length factor, C is the cover management factor, & P is the conservation practice factor. The results showed that the erosion value ranged from 0.39 - 268.55 tons/ha/year. Permissible erosion ranges from 8.4 – 15 tons/ha/year for Latosol and 27.4 ton/ha/year for Regosol. The Rate of Erosion Hazard is dominated by moderate erosion, covering an area of 1330.7 ha or 31.8% of the total area. The Erosion Hazard Index is dominated by the low class (<1.0) which is covered over 2703.1 ha or 64.61% of the total area.

Spatial assessment of water erosion hazard in Chiffa wadi watershed and along the first section of the Algerian North-South highway using remote sensing data, RUSLE, and GIS techniques

Spatial assessment of water erosion hazard in Chiffa wadi watershed and along the first section of the Algerian North-South highway using remote sensing data, RUSLE, and GIS techniques

An assessment of vegetation cover changes and soil erosion hazard in muzvezve sub-catchment area, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT This study assessed the vegetation cover changes and soil erosion hazard in the Muzvezve sub-catchment located in Sanyati catchment, Zimbabwe. A descriptive research design was used in this study. Data was collected using Geographical Information System (GIS) and remote sensing, key informant interviews, and direct field observations. ArcGIS 10.5 was used to analyze the data collected using GIS and remote sensing. Content analysis was used to analyze data collected from direct field observations and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the major causes of deforestation and soil erosion in the sub-catchment were anthropogenic activities such as urban and agricultural expansion, resettlement programs, veld fires, brick molding, and mining. Vegetation cover changes fluctuated from 2008 to 2019, experiencing gains and losses in vegetation cover over the years. The erosion hazard fluctuated between the different erosion hazard classes from 2008 to 2019. These changes were attributed to land use and land cover changes, and conservation practices in the sub-catchment. Some of the strategies that were undertakento deal with deforestation and soil erosion were not effectively implemented. The study recommends more community engagement programs such as awareness campaigns in order to educate local people on sustainable forest and soil resource management.

A Review on Assessing and Mapping Soil Erosion Hazard Using Geo-Informatics Technology for Farming System Management

Soil erosion is a severe threat to food production systems globally. Food production in farming systems decreases with increasing soil erosion hazards. This review article focuses on geo-informatics applications for identifying, assessing and predicting erosion hazards for sustainable farming system development. Several researchers have used a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods with erosion models, integrating geo-informatics techniques for spatial interpretations to address soil erosion and land degradation issues. The review identified different geo-informatics methods of erosion hazard assessment and highlighted some research gaps that can provide a basis to develop appropriate novel methodologies for future studies. It was found that rainfall variation and land-use changes significantly contribute to soil erosion hazards. There is a need for more research on the spatial and temporal pattern of water erosion with rainfall variation, innovative techniques and strategies for landscape evaluation to improve the environmental conditions in a sustainable manner. Examining water erosion and predicting erosion hazards for future climate scenarios could also be approached with emerging algorithms in geo-informatics and spatiotemporal analysis at higher spatial resolutions. Further, geo-informatics can be applied with real-time data for continuous monitoring and evaluation of erosion hazards to risk reduction and prevent the damages in farming systems.

Spatial-temporal trends of rainfall erosivity and its implication for sustainable agriculture in the Wei River Basin of China

Water and soil are important natural resources for agricultural development. Soil erosion is a worldwide problem threatening sustainable agriculture development. Rainfall is one of the major natural factors that cause soil erosion. The study of the spatial distribution and temporal trends of rainfall erosivity is practical and important for the assessment of soil erosion hazards, the planning of soil and water conservation measures, and the sustainable agriculture development. In this study, the data of daily rainfall in the Wei River Basin from 1969 to 2018 were collected, the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of rainfall and rainfall erosivity were analyzed. The results show that the regional mean annual rainfall varies from 315.0 to 807.3 mm, which shows an increasing spatial trend from northwest to southeast. The mean annual rainfall erosivity in the basin ranges from 751.4 to 2600.0 MJ⋅mm⋅hm-2⋅h-1, which has a similar pattern of spatial distribution as the rainfall. The monthly rainfall erosivity changing pattern is a single-peak type. High erosivity of rainfall was mainly observed from July to September. The peaks mostly occur in July and August. The temporal trend of annual rainfall erosivity ranges from −6.6–10.1 MJ⋅mm⋅hm-2⋅h-1 per year, the Loess Plateau and the Qinling Mountains in the southern basin show an increasing trend, and the surroundings of Xifeng, Changwu and Huanxian have the statistical significance of P < 0.05. In the midstream and downstream of the basin and the Guanzhong Plain, the rainfall erosivity shows an insignificant decreasing trend. The North Atlantic Oscillation obviously influences the rainfall erosivity in the recent two decades. The study results may helpful for the scientific management, soil erosion prevention and sustainable agricultural development of the Wei River Basin.

Intelligent vulnerability prediction of soil erosion hazard in semi-arid and humid region

Soil erosion by water and other anthropogenic activities in the semi-arid and humid region is noticed as a major issue in the reduction in natural land by the loss of soil nutrients. The seven standard parameters were suggested in the literature for the assessment of soil erosion hazard, viz. soil loss, sediment yield, run-off potential, land capability class, drainage density, sediment transport index, and slope. In the present study, the combination of intelligent vulnerability prediction, multi-criteria decision-making, and geographic information system techniques provides an effective approach to identify the soil erosion hazard in the semi-arid and humid region. It makes this process more effective and efficient as the vulnerability of soil erosion hazard can be predicted by the proposed trained models for any locations that have the streamlined values of above seven parameters as suggested in this paper. The standard machine learning classifiers such as k-nearest neighbour, decision tree, random forest (RF), multinomial naive bays, adaptive boosting, and gradient adaptive boosting (GAB) have been applied on the spatial data set of “Pairi” river watershed found in “Chhattisgarh”, India. There are five categories of soil abrasion, viz. “very low”, “low”, “medium”, “high”, and “very high”, in this data set that represents an index of soil erosion hazard. The experimental results have given 91.5140% and 90.5525% accuracy using RF and GAB, respectively, whereas a much better log-loss measure, i.e. 0.27, is obtained by the GAB in comparison of 0.93 with RF. The results have been verified by visiting the ground truth locations.

An integrated approach of GIS, RUSLE and AHP to model soil erosion in West Kameng watershed, Arunachal Pradesh

Soil erosion has always been a major environmental problem in many parts of the world including the northeastern region of India. An increase in the rate of soil erosion has tremendous implications on land degradation, biodiversity loss, productivity, etc. Hence, assessment of soil erosion hazard and its spatial distribution is essential to serve as a baseline data for effective control measures. The present study uses revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach integrated with geospatial technology for modeling soil erosion hazard zone of West Kameng watershed of Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. The assessment showed that the erodibility factor of soil ranged between 0 and 0.38 t/ha/MJ/mm and slope length and steepness factor increases with increase in slope angle. Lower normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values depict vegetation cover and higher values represent the rocky area or barren land. Spatial distribution of conservation support practice on soil loss indicated the variability (0–1) where lower value represents the higher conservation practice. The predicted average soil erosion rate was 124.21 t/ha/Yr. Normalized eigenvector values ranged between 0.03 and 0.20. The areas with more slope, relative relief, drainage density, lineament density, and frequency have shown comparatively higher eigenvector values, and it has been noticed that the strength of these eigenvectors reduces with a decrease in the values of the parameters. The spatial soil erosion potential map was delineated using eight geo-environmental variables (LULC, geomorphology, slope, relative relief, drainage density, drainage frequency, lineament density, and lineament frequency). The soil hazard map showed that the moderate soil erosion has the maximum (57.71%) area cover followed by high erosion class (26.09%) which depicts that most of the watershed areas are moderate to high vulnerable to soil erosion. The efficiency of the AHP was validated applying area under curve (AUC) method which result 84.90% accuracy in the present study. Based on the findings, it is being recommended that present watershed requires adequate control procedures on a priority basis to conserve soil resources and reduce flood events and siltation of water bodies.

Assessment of Water Erosion Hazards by Flash Floods Using Remote Sensing and GIS: A Case Study of Wadi Alhaytah Watershed in Wadi Natrun, Egypt

Water erosion by flash floods is one of the major threats to the sustainable development and the environment. Recently, in Egypt, flash floods occurred frequently, causing loss of life and destruction of ecosystems. The objectives of this study are to assess the hazards of the November 5, 2015 flash flood in wadi Alhaytah watershed in Egypt using GIS and remote sensing, and develop a flood control strategy that reduces an unexpected flood risk. Two Sentinel-2 satellite images were selected for the study, which acquired on August 16 and November 14, 2015. The maximum likelihood supervised classification technique was applied on the two images to produce temporal land use/cover (LULC) maps. The hazards of the flash flood and water erosion were assessed through monitoring of LULC changes between the two dates. A flood control strategy was proposed for the watershed through a developed GIS procedure. Results indicated that the catchment area is characterized by remarkable variations in elevations and slopes. Assessment of flood hazards revealed that 32.23 km2 (3223 ha) and 1.04 km2 (104 ha) of the cropland and fish farms, respectively, were removed or destroyed, which would affect the national agricultural production and food security. Therefore, fifty six suitable locations of storage dams were spatially proposed in the catchment area to mitigate unexpected floods, prevent loss of human and animal lives, decrease soil erosion, enhance soil moisture, and increase the yield of the existing aquifers, especially ground water is the only water resource available for agricultural development in the region.

Assessment of erosion hazards due to land use change in Cianten subwatershed, Indonesia

Cianten subwatershed is a part of the Upper Cimanuk subwatershed which has high erosion values and important watersheds as it has several protection functions for the entire watershed. The research was conducted in Cianten subwatershed, Upper Cimanuk subwatershed, Garut district, West Java, Indonesia. The method used in this research was a comparative analysis survey. This method is performed by comparing the inter-time comparative effects of landuse change parameters and the prediction of erosion values with USLE formula in the period 2004-2016 in Cianten subwatershed. The results showed that there was a change of landuse type during the period 2004-2016 with the addition of land on paddy field with the width of 266,43 ha and open land with the width of 0.1 ha, while the reduction of the extent occurred in secondary dryland forest with an area of 13,75 ha, 166 ha of plantation forest, 12,9 ha of plantation, dry land farming area of 49,59 ha and shrubs of 0,98 ha. Areas that experienced the highest erosion grade class (class V) in the 2004-2016 period were in Leles District in Dano, Cangkuang, Kandangmukti and Jangkurang Villages. The highest erosion values in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2016 were highest in open land on slope class >40%.

Tropical Cyclone-Induced Hazards Caused by Storm Surges and Large Waves on the Coast of China

The mainland coast of China is about 18,000 km long and houses about 70% of China’s largest cities and 50% of its population. For the last few decades, the rapid growth of the Chinese economy has resulted in extensive development of the coastal infrastructure and property, large-scale expansion of coastal ports, excessive reclamation of coastal land, and a significant increase in the coastal population. Previous studies have indicated that tropical cyclones (TCs) have struck the coast of China at a higher frequency and intensity, and TC-induced coastal hazards have resulted in heavy human losses and huge losses to the Chinese coastal economy. In analyzing the long-term and most recent coastal hazard data collected on the coast of China, this study has found that TC-induced storm surges are responsible for 88% of the direct coastal economic losses, while TC-induced large coastal waves have caused heavy loss of human lives, and that the hazard-caused losses are shown to increase spatially from the north to south, peak in the southern coastal sector, and well correlate to storm wave energy flux. The frequency and intensity of coastal hazards on the coast of China are expected to increase in response to future changing TC conditions and rising sea levels. A simple two-parameter conceptual model is also presented for the assessment of coastal inundation and erosion hazards on the coast of China.

Mapping of soil erosion hazard zones of Sri Lanka

Soil erosion is a dynamic process where productive topsoil is removed causing loss of land productivity and reduction in storage capacity of surface water bodies. Soil erosion is one of the major causes of land degradation in most areas of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the assessment of erosion hazard of different areas of Sri Lanka is a necessity to apply appropriate conservation measures and combat the land degradation. This study focused on mapping of erosion hazard zones by combining Geographic Information System (GIS) data along with In VEST model. Soil erosion hazard zone maps were developed for each district and for whole Sri Lanka. Results showed that 11.8% of the area in Sri Lanka is under high hazard level of erosion and 4.8% of the area is under very high level of hazard which are intolerable for any land use with respect to the sustainable productivity. Furthermore, six districts namely Badulla (36.5% high erosion hazard), Kandy (32%), Kegalle (38.5%), Nuwara Eliya (40.7%), Rathnapura (38.7%) and Matale (20.3%) showed considerable susceptibility for soil erosion mainly due to the topography and the land use. Four other districts namely, Galle (20% high erosion hazard), Matara (20%), Kaluthara (20%) and Colombo (9%) also showed high tendency for soil erosion due to the land use changes with the urbanization. These areas should be given priority when implementing soil conservation practices and land use changes to reduce further soil loss.

Application of the Coastal Hazard Wheel to assess erosion on the Maltese coast

This study provides an assessment of erosion hazard on the Maltese coast via application of the Coastal Hazard Wheel, a tool that also facilitated analysis of a number of other inherent coastal hazards including ecosystem disruption, gradual inundation, salt water intrusion, and flooding. The CHW characterises the coastal environment by considering geological layout, wave exposure, tidal range, flora and fauna, sediment balance and storm climate. Application of the CHW identified coastal erosion to present a high to very high influence on the Maltese coastline, with 45.7% of the coast exhibiting a low level of erosion hazard, 12.1% a moderate level, 12.6% a high level and 18.4%, a very high level of erosion hazard.Application of the CHW suggested somewhat higher erosion hazard levels than prior studies using different methodologies; it also confirmed the ease of application of this climate change sensitive coastal hazard identification tool. Management considerations identified a wide range of options the applicability of which is highly dependent on specific coastal configuration and that characterisation of the latter is crucial to allow appropriate management.The study generated management-useful maps describing coastal susceptibility to various hazards and hazard levels. It further provided a description of the entire Maltese coast in terms of ten different coastal configurations that infer management considerations of six coastal characteristics and five hazards. The study outputs are presented as a contribution to more effective management and decision-making by civil protection and planning agencies and as a key first step in the risk analysis process.

Erratum to: Quantitative approach on erosion hazard, vulnerability and risk assessment: case study of Muriganga–Saptamukhi interfluve, Sundarban, India

The present research work determines the coastal erosion risk of Muriganga–Saptamukhi estuarine interfluve of western Sundarban. Risk assessment incorporates both hazard and vulnerability, which were assessed by construction of indices. The hazard index incorporates the extent and intensity of coastal and estuarine bank line erosion over time. Vulnerability index on the other hand is comprised of hydrogeomorphic exposures such as geology, relief, near-bank depth, mean tidal range, average surge height, socioeconomic susceptible elements including population growth rate, household density, proportion of agricultural land and structural and non-structural adaptive capacities like the literacy rate, availability of banking and credit facilities, embankment properties, presence or absence of marginal mangrove forest cover. The composite risk of each section can be determined by using the individual risk classes. The analysis concluded that southern coastal tracts and exposed marginal parts of the estuarine interfluve regions are more risk-prone. The composite risk assessment is thus a relevant and practical tool that can be utilized using large number of elements for coastal management.