Assessing soil erosion risk in the Tillabery landscape, Niger

Abstract

To combat desertification, it is indispensable to understand soil erosion processes in the Sahel zone. The objective of this study was to develop a simple model that uses soil texture data from the field and Digital Elevation Model parameters to predict soil texture. This study also assesses soil erosion research in the Sahel region, illustrated by a case study from Tillabéry landscape (Niger). The most sensitive areas and trends of land degradation processes were identified using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation and Unit Stream Power-based Erosion Deposition models. The models used depict a rational evolution of soil loss distribution during the study period from 1973 to 2007. The results show that soil erosion output scenarios predict greater soil erosion in the study area from 2070 onwards. They suggest that human disturbance and topographic factors are the main impact factors in the affected areas.

Key words: Tillabéry landscape (Niger), sheet and rill erosion modelling, data mining