Author(s): M. Gopal Naik; E. P. Rao; T. I. Eldho
Linked Author(s): Eldho T.I.
Keywords: Kinematic Wave Approximation; Finite Element Method; Geographical Information Systems; Remote Sensing; Soil Erosion; Sediment yield
Abstract: In order to meet the demands of ever growing population for the increased food production, land should be preserved and developed to sustain the productivity level of soils by reducing the excessive soil loss leading to land degradation. This paper describes the simulation of soil erosion and sediment yield from agricultural watershed using Finite Element Method (FEM), remotely sensed data and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). FEM has been used for solving the governing partial differential equations. Land use/ Land cover is extracted from the remotely sensed data. Various thematic maps required for the model are prepared, digitized and rasterized in the GIS environment. The soil erosion and sediment yield model for overland flow and stream flow has been developed and applied to the Harsul watershed, Nashik district of Maharastra state, India. Part of the available data has been used for model calibration and the other part for model validation. The developed model has predicted satisfactory results for both calibration as well as validation events, when compared with the observed data.
Year: 2007