Regional scaled mapping of gully erosion sensitivity in Western Kenya

Abstract

East African Rift regions suffer from serious gully erosion. As a preliminary step to assess gully erosion and to establish appropriate managements of geological/geomorphological conditions of the East African Rift escarpments, slope gradient, vegetation coverage, and sediment hardness in western Kenya, were used as mapping factors and overlayed to create separate channels in RGB color space. Pixels highlighted in this mapping can be considered as indicators of sediment erosion potential and runoff sensitivity of igneous rocks. The precision of the model for gully erosion sensitivity may be improved by including soil properties and topographic information.

Keywords: Gully erosion, East African Rift, Kavirondo Rift, Lake Victoria basin, GIS, remote sensing, RGB color space