Page 101 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Mustafa Sert - Abdullah Emin Akay
Ayhan Ateşoğlu

multi-date satellite images of Sentinel 2A, Landsat Oli-8 and ETM were used
to show land use, vegetation cover and its change. The ‘Cellular Automata
Markov Chain’ (CA_Markov) model, which can make estimations about future
outcomes based on the current situation, and the ‘Revised Universal Soil
Loss Equation’ (RUSLE) model were integrated into the GIS to quantify soil
losses and map the erosion risk for specific years. The land cover classification
was performed using the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) algorithm
(Rossi, 2019). The land cover of the study area was identified by the supervised
classification method using the Maximum Likelihood algorithm following the
application of primary pre-treatment processes, and it was classified into six
categories: forest, water body, bare soil, agricultural and uncultivated soil.
This study concludes that the integrated use of CA_Markov model and RUSLE
model with GIS and remote sensing is a suitable method to find land cover
and its change and to accurately quantify future soil losses.
In their study ‘Water Erosion Provincial Statistics- Soil Erosion Control
Strategies (Sustainable Land/Soil Management Practices and Approaches)’,
Erpul et al. (2020) evaluated the results of the ‘Dynamic Erosion Model and
Monitoring System’ (DEMIS) project that was initiated by the General Directorate
of Combating Desertification and Erosion of the Ministry of Environment,
Urbanisation and Climate Change. DEMIS software has been developed because
the necessary databases for the RUSLE model are very data-intensive and will
be updated regularly. DEMIS produces maps that indicate the severity of water
erosion both qualitatively and quantitatively at the scale of Türkiye, basin, region
and province by the effective use of RUSLE, GIS, RS and geostatistical methods.
The DEMIS RUSLE model allows the calculation of soil loss by the interaction
of some parameters (A = R x K x C x LS x P), the actual soil loss in the presence
of land cover and soil conservation measures, and the amount of sediment
transported to water bodies. The parameters used in the study are as follows:
A= Annual average soil loss (t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹),
R= Rainfall erosivity (MJ mm ha⁻¹ h⁻¹y⁻¹),
K= Soil erodibility factor (t ha h ha−1 MJ−1 mm−1),
C= Cover-Management Factor,
LS= Slope length and steepness factor, P= Erosion control practice factor
The study concludes that approximately 642 million tonnes of soil is
transported by water erosion every year in Türkiye. On average, this amount
corresponds to 8.24 tonnes of soil per hectare annually. According to the
severity classes of water erosion, 60.28% of the country’s surface area is in very
mild, 19.13% in mild, 7.93% in moderate, 5.97% in severe and 6.7% in very
severe erosion classes. By the land use status, 53.66% of the soil is displaced
in pasture areas, 38.71% in agricultural areas and 4.17% in forest areas.

88 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate