American Journal of Innovative Research & Applied Sciences
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American Journal of innovative Research & Applied Sciences
ISSN 2429-5396 (Online) OCLC Number: 920041286
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| MAY | VOLUME 4 | N° 5 | 2017 |
ABSTRACT Background: Soil loss by erosion processes remains the principal environmental issue in the Argana basin, in the western part of the Moroccan High Atlas. The erosion is a real threat not only for the durability of soil fertility, but also for the sustainability of Abdelmoumene dam due to its situation downstream. Objectives: This study is an attempt to assess the soil loss risk in the Argana basin by combining remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques as well as field observation. Material and Methods: The model used in this study was the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation. Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM1) images with 30m of spatial resolution and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) Radiometer images, besides data obtained from the WorldClim 1.4 website and the Harmonized World Soil Database 1.2 (HWSD) were integrated and processed into an ArcGis environment to generate the soil loss risk map for the area studied. Results: The results mainly consist in thematic maps illustrating the distribution of the six factors considered in the revised universal soil loss equation RUSLE model, notably R, K, LS, C and P factors. Field observation confirmed that soils undergo deep erosion in zones of high to very severe erosion risk. Conclusions: It is concluded that the application of RUSLE model was helpful to assess the soil loss risk in the Argana basin. The annual mean of soil loss ranges from 0.036 to 270.572 (t/ha/year). Lands representing 17.23% of global surface showed low to moderate risk, while high to very high risk and severe to very severe risk were revealed in surfaces corresponding to 55.78% and 26.99% respectively. This situation is verified on field and reveals a real threat for both soils stability and Abdelmoumene dam durability. Anti-erosion measures are thus demanded to ensure sustainable protection of natural resources really threatened.
