Integrated Use
of Remote Sensing and GIS in estimating Soil Erosion in the Tukvar Tea Plantation
Area, Darjeeling, India by RUSLE Modelling
Thapa Manorama and Rai Pribat
Disaster Advances; Vol. 16(10); 11-16;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/1610da011016; (2023)
Abstract
Soil erosion is one of the major threats to food security and agricultural sustainability
worldwide. Numerous factors including relief, slope, land use, land cover, rainfall
pattern, soil texture, conservation techniques and anthropogenic factors, combine
to cause soil erosion. The enormity and spatial distribution of soil erosion should
be known for effectively assessing and mapping erosion-prone areas.
In the hill region, soil loss is a significant component in decreasing stability
and persistent loss causes landslides. So in order to study this, various soil erosion
models have come up amongst which RUSLE has been adopted by many researchers. The
goal of the current study is to forecast the projected soil loss in Tukvar tea plantations
of the Darjeeling district. This study will provide an estimate of the amount and
rate of erosion in the Darjeeling district's Tukvar tea plantations. This study
revealed that the leading factors to soil erosion are slope factors and rainfall
erosivity. The geo-coded reference of the geographic extent of soil erosion-prone
areas will be useful for micro-level planning and will serve as a useful tool for
managing and conserving soil.
