Assessment of soil erosion and sediment yield in the Tamiraparani sub-basin, South India, using an automated RUSLE-SY model

Soil erosion induces land degradation and minimizes the water-holding capacity, resulting in poor environmental quality at a basin scale. This becomes more serious due to long-term anthropogenic pressure including over exploitation of natural resources and lack of sustainable development. In this study, an automated RUSLE-SY model was developed to identify the potential soil erosion and sediment yield zones in Tamiraparani sub-basin, South India. The input parameters required to execute the RUSLE-SY model are digital elevation model, study area boundary, land-use/land-cover data, soil data, annual rainfall data, near-infrared and red bands from satellite imagery. The entire set of data was geoprocessed with standard RUSLE and sediment yield equations for generating soil erosion and sediment yield map. The distribution of soil erosion and sediment yield in the study area was analyzed, and its impacts were discussed. The result reveals that the high soil erosion is noticed in the western part of the sub-basin (31.25 ton ha−1 year−1). Moreover, the sediment yield in this area contributes around 14.54 ton ha−1 year−1. The low level of soil erosion and sediment yield (~95 % of the area) reflects the climatic variability and topography of Tamiraparani sub-basin. The resulting RUSLE-SY model provides a robust and easy to use soil erosion and conservation management tool for efficient planning in similar environments.