Estimating Soil Loss by Sheet Erosion in the Basin of Córrego Baguaçu-SP

Abstract

Erosion is a natural phenomenon in the modeled the surface removal process and sediment deposition, but human activities, such as deforestation, exceed natural levels of soil loss. To estimate the annual soil loss in arable land, there are models of prediction which relate to physical elements of the landscape with anthropogenic activities. On this subject, the aim of this study is to evaluate the loss of soils in the Baguaçu watershed , located in the west of the State of São Paulo, considered a region of intense accelerated erosion. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) allows you to evaluate the outcome of rainfall erosion index, soil erodibility, topographic factor, coverage of land use, management and conservation practices combined with the Geographical Information System (GIS), it was possible to estimate spatially the areas of greatest vulnerability to erosion, as well as linear features map changes and point out what is most responsible for heavy losses from soils. The results showed that much of the soil loss in the focuses on the classes of soil loss low (0 to 3 t/ha/yr), with predominance of the occupied areas with pasture and sugar cane.