GIS Based Land Degradation Assessment for Sustainable Land Management: The Case of Bench Maji Zone, Ethiopia, Africa

Research areas:

Volume 4,Issue 5, Sept. 2017

Year:

2015

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

GIS, Remote Sensing, Multi Criteria Evaluation MCE, RUSLE, Weighted Overlay, Land Use Land Cove Change and Land Degradation

Authors:

Abebe Mengaw Wubie

Journal:

IJRIES

Volume:

Number:

Pages:

23-32

Month:

March

ISSN:

2394-1375

BibTex:

@article{50,
author = "Abebe Mengaw Wubie",
abstract = "Lack of appropriate land management, land cover change and land degradations are regarded as the major and most widespread form of environmental problems in the southwestern parts of Ethiopian. Population growth due to re-settlement, cultivation on steep slopes, rugged topographical feature, clearing of vegetation, mal-agricultural practice, overgrazing and even higher demand for fire woods are the main factors that accelerate land cover changes and land degradations. The problem of land degradation can be minimized and ultimately controlled by land use and management maps. Therefore, the overall objective of this paper is to assess and map potentially degraded lands by examining different topographic and anthropogenic factors for the planning and implementations of sustainable land management system in the study area. This study had integrated Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS) and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques to assess and map potentially degraded land areas using RUSLE model. Slope gradient, slope length, soil type, soil conservations techniques, cover management and rainfall variables were used as input model parameters/variables. The data had been collected and analyzed from different landsat imageries, SRTM data, topomaps and point interpolations of primary data. Finally the aggregated effects of all parameters had been analyzed and soil losses were quantified and mapped using RUSEL model. Based on the result of the study, the estimated soil loss in the area ranges from nearly insignificant (0.01t/ha/yr.) in the northwest margin, south and southwest part of the area to extremely high (118 t/ha/yr.) in northeastern and central parts of the catchments ",
issn = "2394-1375",
journal = "IJRIES",
keywords = "GIS, Remote Sensing, Multi Criteria Evaluation MCE, RUSLE, Weighted Overlay, Land Use Land Cove Change and Land Degradation",
month = "March",
number = "2",
pages = "23-32",
title = "{GIS} {B}ased {L}and {D}egradation {A}ssessment for {S}ustainable {L}and {M}anagement: {T}he {C}ase of {B}ench {M}aji {Z}one, {E}thiopia, {A}frica",
volume = "2",
year = "2015",
}

Abstract:

Lack of appropriate land management, land cover change and land degradations are regarded as the major and most widespread form of environmental problems in the southwestern parts of Ethiopian. Population growth due to re-settlement, cultivation on steep slopes, rugged topographical feature, clearing of vegetation, mal-agricultural practice, overgrazing and even higher demand for fire woods are the main factors that accelerate land cover changes and land degradations. The problem of land degradation can be minimized and ultimately controlled by land use and management maps. Therefore, the overall objective of this paper is to assess and map potentially degraded lands by examining different topographic and anthropogenic factors for the planning and implementations of sustainable land management system in the study area. This study had integrated Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS) and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques to assess and map potentially degraded land areas using RUSLE model. Slope gradient, slope length, soil type, soil conservations techniques, cover management and rainfall variables were used as input model parameters/variables. The data had been collected and analyzed from different landsat imageries, SRTM data, topomaps and point interpolations of primary data. Finally the aggregated effects of all parameters had been analyzed and soil losses were quantified and mapped using RUSEL model. Based on the result of the study, the estimated soil loss in the area ranges from nearly insignificant (0.01t/ha/yr.) in the northwest margin, south and southwest part of the area to extremely high (118 t/ha/yr.) in northeastern and central parts of the catchments

Full text:

IJRIES-50_final.pdf Online version

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