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IMPACT OF LULC ON SOIL EROSION RATES USING RUSLE MODEL AND GIS TECHNIQUES -- A STUDY OF NAGAVALI RIVER BASIN
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  • Kottali Yaswanth,
  • Meghana Kona,
  • Sai kumar Andra,
  • Rathinasamy Maheswaran
Kottali Yaswanth
Mvgr College of Engineering

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Meghana Kona
Mvgr College of Engineering
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Sai kumar Andra
Mvgr College of Engineering
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Rathinasamy Maheswaran
IIT hyderabad
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Abstract

Soil erosion is the most common type of land degradation, and it has become a global environmental issue that reduces soil productivity and water quality. LULC change related with climatic and geomorphologic states of the area affects land degradation. This study aims at estimating the annual average soil erosion for the study area, Nagavali River Basin, and also focuses to analyze the impact of land use land cover change on the annual average soil erosion rates of the Nagavali river basin. In this study, the soil properties, elevation, and topography of the study are considered to be constant. This study was done by using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. This equation includes factors like rainfall, soil, land cover, cultivation practices, and slope, for the estimation of soil erosion. Each layer of the factors affecting soil erosion was prepared and integrated using GIS techniques. By using the RUSLE model, the present study identified that the soil erosion rates for the years 1990 and 2020 ranged from 0 - 2364.46 t/ha/yr and 0 - 7857.21 t/ha/yr respectively for the Nagavali river basin. The LULC change analysis for the years 1990 and 2020 revealed that the erosion rate increased from 2364.46 t/ha/yr to 7857.21 t/ha/yr in the Nagavali river basin. The results also depicted that the area under very severe erosion class increased drastically from 1990 to 2020 while the area under very slight erosion class decreased from 1990 to 2020. This shows that LULC change has a significant impact on increase of soil erosion rates in Nagavali River Basin.