Soil Loss Estimation based on RUSLE along the Central Hunter Valley Region, NSW, Australia
Authors
-
Department of Geography, S.P. Pune University (Former Pune University), Pune – 411007
Veena U. Joshi
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-018-0904-zAbstract
Soil erosion by water has been a major problem since man introduced agriculture in the landscape. Soil erosion is a common hazard which is steadily increasing as a result of human activities in many parts of the world. Hunter Valley of NSW is located in subtropical eastern Australia. The region is known for its diversity in landscape that includes wide floodplains, extensive estuarine wetlands, undulating country, escarpments and rugged sandstone gorges. The region is also well known for wine production. The Hunter Valley has a long history of soil erosion following the European settlement 150 years ago. Currently there have been renewed human activities in the south central part of the region for coal mining, leading to clearance of vegetation and disturbance of soil. The present study addresses the issue of soil erosion in a part of Hunter Region by employing the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE, Renard et al., 1977) model. The results indicate that the average annual soil loss from the area is 0.7 kg/ m2/year, which is well beyond the tolerance limit of the soil. Statistical relationships between soil loss and each parameter of the RUSLE equation were obtained and it was found that C factor has significant influence on the average soil loss in the area. An overall picture that emerges out of the study is that the region is continuing to suffer as a result of disturbance in natural environment from the historical times till present.
Downloads
Metrics
Issue
Section
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
References
AECOM - Architecture, Engineering, Consulting, Operations, and Maintenance, (2013) Tillegra Land Use and Management Plan Hunter Water Corporation – ABN: 46 228 513 446 AECOM Australia Pty Ltd.
Bailey, H. (2013) Soil and Land Capability Impact Assessment, Continuation of Bengalla Mine, GSS Environmental, NAN05-001
Brewer, R. And Butler, B. E. (1953) Pedology of part of the upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales. C.S.I.R.O. Aust. Soil Pub. No.2.
Browne, W. R. (l924) Notes on the physiography and geology of the upper Hunter River. J. Roy.Soc. N.S.W. 58, pp 128-44.
Burley, T. M. (2005) The Hunter Valley Research Foundation, The Professional Geographer, v.15(3), pp.23–24
Canton, Y., Domingo, F., Sole-Benet, A. And Puigdefabregas, J. (2001) Hydrological and erosion response of a badlands system in semiarid SE Spain. Jour. Hydrol., v.252, pp.65–84
Chakroun, H. And Fortin, J. P. (1993) Combination of single storm erosion and hydrological models into a geographic information system. In, Wicherek, S (ed), Farm Land Erosion: In Temperate Plains Environment and Hills, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp.261-270
De Jong, S. M. (1994) Application of Reflective Remote Sensing for Land Degradation Studies in a Mediterranean Environment (Utrecht: Netherlands Geographical Studies, University of Utrecht)
De Jong, S.M., Paracchini, M.L., Bertolo, F., Folving, S., Megier, J And De Roo, A.P.J. (1999) Regional assessment of soil erosion using the distributed model SEMMED and remotely sensed data. Catena 37 (3–4), 291–308.
Eyles, R. J. (1977a) Birchams Creek; the transition from a chain of ponds to a gully.' Australian Geographical Studies, v.15, pp.146-157.
Fanning, P. C. (1999) Recent landscape history in arid western NSW, Australia: a model for regional change. Geomorphology, v.29, pp.191-209.
Haworth, R.J., Gale, S.J., Short, S. A. And Heijnis, H. (1999) ‘Land use and lake sedimentation on the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia.' Aust. Geographer, v.30(1), pp.51-73.
Isbell, R. F. (1996) Australian Soil Classification. CSIRO Publishing, Australia.
Jasinski, M. F. (1990) Sensitivity of the normalized difference vegetation index to subpixel canopy cover, soil albedo, and pixel scale. Remote Sensing of Environment, v.32, pp.169-187.
Karaburun, A (2010) Estimation of C factor for soil erosion modeling using NDVI in Buyukcekmece watershed. Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences v.3(1), pp.77-85.
Lal, R. (1997) Review of soil erosion research in Latin America. In Soil Conservation and Management in the Humid tropic D.J. Greenland and R. Lal, eds, 331-340. New York John Wiley and Sons.
Landa, R., Meave, J. And Carabias, J. (1997) Environmental deterioration in rural Mexico: an examination of the concept. Ecological Applications 7, pp.316-329.
Lantican, M.A., Guerra, L.C. And Bhuiyan, S.I. (2003) Impacts of soil erosion in the upper Manupali watershed on irrigated lowlands in the Philippines. Paddy Water Environ. 1, pp.19–26
Lillesand, T.M, Kiefer, R.W And Chipman, J.W. (2004). Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation. 5th ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Ludwig , J. A., Wilcox, B. P., Breshears, D. D., Tongway, D. J. And Imeson, A. C. (2005) Vegetation patches and runoff-erosion as interacting ecohydrological processes in semiarid landscapes, Ecology, v.86(2), pp.288-297.
Marques, M.J., Bienes, R., Perez-Rodriguez, R. And Jimenez, L. (2008) Soil degradation in Central Spain due to sheet water erosion by low-intensity rainfall events. Earth Surf. Proc. Land., v.33(3), pp.414–423.
Mccauley, A., Devries, R., Elith, J. And Gilmour, P. (2006) Vegetation of Regional Significance on the NSW Central Coast. NSW Hunter and Central Coast Vegetation Mapping Project. Unpublished draft report prepared for the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority by the HCCREMS team at the Environment Division of Hunter Councils Inc, NSW
Millward, A. A. And Mersey, J. E. (1999) Adapting the RUSLE to model soil erosion potential in a mountainous tropical watershed, Catena, v.38, pp.109–129.
Mitas, L. And Mitasova, H. (1999) Spatial Interpolation. In: P. Longley, M.F. Goodchild, D.J. Maguire, D.W. Rhind (Eds.), Geographical Information Systems: Principles, Techniques, Management and Applications; GeoInformation International, Wiley, pp.481–492.
Morgan, R.P.C. (1986) Soil Erosion and Conservation, Longman Group Ltd., Essex.
Nicholson, A., Winkler, M., Muller, R., Jenkins, B.R., Cook, W. And Wooldridge, A. (2012) Salinity hazard report for Catchment Action Plan upgrade – Hunter-Central Rivers CMA, NSW Department of Primary Industries / NSW Office of Environment and Heritage – Department of Premier and Cabinet, Parramatta.
Pierce, F.J., Larson, W.E And Dowdy, R.H (1986) Soil Conservation: An Assessment of the National Resources Inventory, vol. 2. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
Pimental, D. And Kounang, N. (1998) Ecology of soil erosion in ecosystems, Ecosystems 1, pp.416-426.
Prosser, I. P., Chappell, J. M. A., And Gillespie, R. (1994). Holocene valley aggradation and gully erosion in headwater catchments, southeastern highlands of Australia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. v.19, pp.465–80.
Renard, K.G., Foster, G.R., Weesies, G.A., Mccool, D.K. And Yoder, D.C. (1997) Predicting soil erosion by water: a guide to conservation planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, RUSLE..Handbook No. 703. US Department of Agriculture, pp.404.
Report No. Mhl1095 (2003) Hunter estuary processes study DPWS Report No. 01010 NSW Department of Commerce Manly Hydraulics Laboratory.
Roose, E. J. (1975) Erosion et ruisellement en Afrique de l'ouest: vingt annees de mesures en petites parcelles experimentales Cyclo. ORSTOM, Adiopodoume, Ivory Coast.
Rosewell, C.J And Keith, E (1988) Soilloss, A program to assist in the selection of management practices to reduce erosion. Soil Conservation Service of New South Wales, Handbook no 11.
Sader, S.A. And Winne, J.C. (1992). ¯RGB-NDVI colour composites for visualizing forest change dynamics. International Journal of Remote Sensing, v.13, pp.3055-3067.
Scott, A. (2001) Water erosion in the Murray-Darling Basin:Learning from the past, CSIRO Land and Water, CRC for Catchment Hydrology, CSIRO Land and Water Canberra Technical Report No 43/01.
Starr, B.J., Wasson, R.J. And Caitcheon, G. (1999) Soil erosion, phosphorus and dryland salinity in the Upper Murrumbidgee; past changes and current findings.' Prepared for the Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment Co-ordinating Committee.
Story R., Galloway R. W. Van De Graaff R. H. M., And Tweedie A. D. (1963) General Report on the Lands of the Hunter Valley Land Research Series No.8, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia, Melbourne.
Sussmilch, C. A. (1940) The geomorphology of the Hunter River district, N.S.W. Pmc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., v.65, pp.301-22.
Tirkey, A. S., Pandey, A. C. And Nathawat, M. S. (2013) Use of Satellite Data, GIS and RUSLE for Estimation of Average Annual Soil Loss in Daltonganj Watershed of Jharkhand (India); Jour. Remote Sensing Tech. v.1(1), pp.20–30.
Thoms, M.C., Ogden, R.W. And Reid, M.A. (1999) Establishing the condition of lowland floodplain rivers: a paleo-ecological approach, Freshwater Biology, v.41, pp.407-423.
Toy, T. J, Foster, G.R. and Renard, K.G. (2002) Soil Erosion: Processes, Prediction, Measurement and Control; John Wiley and Sons, pp.338.
Tweddales, S.C., Eschlaeger, C.R. and Seybold, W.F. (2000). An Improved Method for Spatial Extrapolation of Vegetative Cover Estimates (USLE/ RUSLE C factor) using LCTA and Remotely Sensed Imagery. USAEC report No. SFIM-AEC-EQ-TR-200011, ERDC/CERL TR-00-7, US Army of Engineer Research and Development Center, CERL, Champaign, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS, 2011 United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, www.nrcs.usda.gov).
U.S.D.A (1972). Hydrology. In ‘SCS National Engineering Handbook'. Section 4. U.S. Gov. Print. Office: Washington, D.C.
Tirkey, A. S, Pandey, A. C. And Nathawat, M. S. (2013) Use of Satellite Data, GIS and RUSLE for Estimation of Average Annual Soil Loss in Daltonganj Watershed of Jharkhand (India); Jour. Remote Sensing Tech., v.1(1), pp.20–30.
Wasson, R.J., Olive, L.J. And Rosewell, C.J. (1996) Rates of erosion and sediment transport in Australia, Proceedings of a symposium, ‘Erosion and Sediment Yield: Global and Regional Perspectives' held in Exeter, England, July 1996. IAHS Publ. No. 236, eds. DE Walling and R Webb, pp.139-148.
Wischmeier, W.H. (1959) A rainfall erosion index for a universal soil loss equation. Soil Sci. Sec. Amer., Proc., v.23, pp.246-249.
Wischmeier, W.H. And Smith, D.D. (1962) Soil loss estimation as a tool in soil and water management planning, Int. Assoc. Scient. Hydrol. Pub. 59, pp.148-159.
