Soil Erosion Mapping at Kampung Batu Balai, Kuala Krai, Kelantan using Geographic Information System (GIS)

¹ Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (Jeli Campus), 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia
² Tropical GeoResource & Hazards Research Group, Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (Jeli Campus), 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: wanisofia@umk.edu.my

Abstract

Soil loss has become one of the world’s biggest and most important environmental problems. Besides, rapid development and various kinds of human activities have made significant environmental impacts due to some factors. Scientists are giving soil erosion a lot of attention, which has prompted the investigation of several approaches to solving the issue. The goal of this study is to use GIS technique to create a risk map for soil erosion. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) approach was used, which considers a number of variables including slope, vegetation cover, rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, and conservation techniques. A soil erosion map with classification from low to high vulnerability is produced by combining these criteria. The Annual Soil Loss Factor (A) was obtained by raster calculation in GIS with a combination of several thematic layers to depict erosion risk zones. Land risk map in Kg. Batu Balai shows that the study area has a moderate erosion rate (37.5%). In conclusion, the data produced offers insightful information that can help detect possible hazards such as floods and alternatives to practical responses.