Effects of land use land cover changes on soil erosion risk in Beshilo sub basin and the influence on Tebi dam, north eastern highlands of Ethiopia

Abstract

Continuous increase of world’s population and demand for food and staple production poses a major challenge for agriculture in the short and medium period. In the current study area, soil loss information and evaluation of risk of potential of soil erosion was not assessed. So, the aim of these study is to assess and analyze the impact of land use land cover change on soil erosion risk using remote sensing and GIS techniques in the upper bushilo sub-basin northern-eastern highland of Ethiopia between 1990 and 2020. Primary materials and tools used are ArcGIS 10.8 software, ENVI 5.3 software, Landsat satellite image of 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, ASTER DEM /DEM 30X30 was downloaded from USGS earth explore, Google earth pro as use for base map that also were downloaded for the four study periods. GPS, Camera, Internet access, and computer software were used for data processing and GIS analysis. the watershed’s computed soil loss ranged from zero in plain areas and water courses to large over 68.7t ha-1 yr -1 . In very degraded sloping regions and at specific spots of steep slopes of the watershed, gross soil loss rate ranged to 79.65 t/ha. It shows a larger spatial variation of soil loss over the watershed. It is mainly caused by the difference in soil, rainfall, slope, land cover, and improper land management. The estimated mean annual gross soil loss from 1990-2020 under the entire watershed is about a 9.94 t/ha/yr. Within the study period (1990-2020), 41723.8 ton soil has transported to Tebi dam. The GIS-based RUSLE model can assist decision-makers in effective planning for erosion control studies on risky areas