Abstract
This paper was to appraise susceptivity of soil erosion and identify its spatial distribution in Three Gorges region in Chongqing, Southwest China based on geographic information system (GIS). The data of rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, topographic undulation and land use/land cover were used to appraise susceptivity with synthetical index model of soil erosion susceptivity and analyze its spatial distribution with ArcGIS9 software. The results showed that the susceptivity of soil erosion was severe in the mass and its spatial difference was obvious due to integrative effect of the rainstorms, soil erodibility, topography, and land use/land cover in Three Gorges region. The main susceptivity classes of soil erosion are marginally sensitive, moderately sensitive and highly sensitive levels and their areas are 18, 61 and 21 percent respectively in the study area. Those areas with high susceptivity distribute in mountains in northeast and southeast of Chongqing due to thin soil, steeper terrain, poor management, and sparse vegetation. High priority should be given for those highly sensitive areas to conserve soil resources by identifying susceptivity of soil erosion, planning and promoting land use/land cover, and optimizing management for maintaining and improving soil productivity and sustainable development of eco-environment in Three Gorges region.
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Zhou, W. (2012). Susceptivity Appraisal of Soil Erosion in Three Gorges Region Based on Geographic Information System. In: Zhang, W. (eds) Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering: Theory and Practice. Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing, vol 162. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29455-6_33
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29455-6_33
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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