Modelling soil erosion susceptibility of Johor river basin by using geographical information system(GIS)

Abstract

Malaysia is undergoing tremendous environmental changes due to population growth, economic development and urbanization. This has stimulated a rapid land use changes across the country which in turn has increased the rate of soil erosion, river sedimentation and deterioration of river water quality. Therefore, it is vital to understand the susceptibility of soil erosion in the river basin in the context of envi-ronmental changes. In the present study, Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE) methods are applied within a geographical information system (GIS) to assess the spatial pattern of soil erosion susceptibility of Johor River basin of Malaysia. Geomorphological, landuse and soil information along with other hydrological data such as annual peak flow and runoff volumes are used to estimate the parameters required for the calculation of soil ero-sion susceptibility. Finally, GIS is used to integrate all the factors and map the spa-tial pattern of erosion susceptibility in the catchment. Both USLE and MUSLE pro-duces similar pattern of soil susceptible zones in Johor River basin. The study re-veals that slope and soil type are the major factors responsible for soil erosion in the basin