Socioeconomic modifications of the universal soil loss equation
While social scientists have long focused on socioeconomic and demographic factors, physical modelers typically study soil loss using physical factors. In the current environment, it is becoming increasingly important to consider both approaches simultaneously for the conservation of soil and water,...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2015-08-01
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| Series: | Solid Earth |
| Online Access: | http://www.solid-earth.net/6/1025/2015/se-6-1025-2015.pdf |
| Summary: | While social scientists have long focused on
socioeconomic and demographic factors, physical modelers typically study
soil loss using physical factors. In the current environment, it is becoming
increasingly important to consider both approaches simultaneously for the
conservation of soil and water, and the improvement of land use conditions.
This study uses physical and socioeconomic factors to find a coefficient
that evaluates the combination of these factors. It aims to determine the
effect of socioeconomic factors on soil loss and, in turn, to modify the
universal soil loss equation (USLE). The methodology employed in this study
specifies that soil loss can be calculated and predicted by comparing the
degree of soil loss in watersheds, with and without human influence, given
the same overall conditions. A coefficient for socioeconomic factors,
therefore, has been determined based on adjoining watersheds (WS I and II),
employing simulation methods. Combinations of <i>C</i> and <i>P</i> factors were used in
the USLE to find the impact of their contributions to soil loss. The results
revealed that these combinations provided good estimation of soil loss
amounts for the second watershed, i.e., WS II, from the adjoining watersheds
studied in this work. This study shows that a coefficient of 0.008 modified
the USLE to reflect the socioeconomic factors, such as settlement, influencing the
amount of soil loss in the studied watersheds. |
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| ISSN: | 1869-9510 1869-9529 |