A. Vrieling: "Mapping Erosion from Space"

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14 Feb 2007 16:00
Unit: Wageningen University
Location: Aula, building 362, Gen. Foulkesweg 1, Wageningen
Organisation: Wageningen University
Promotor: prof.dr.ir. L. Stroosnijder (Erosion and Soil and Water Conservation)
Co Promotor: G. Sterk

 Accelerated soil erosion by water is a major problem in many regions worldwide. For developing effective soil and water conservation strategies, spatial information on the importance of erosion is required at various scales. This thesis shows how satellite data may be used to map soil erosion. One option is the direct detection of erosion features. Another option is to study erosion factors, such as vegetation, slope, rainfall, and soil. Erosion risk can then be obtained by integration of the spatial information on erosion factors. This thesis presents and tests several new methodologies for qualitative erosion mapping through case studies in three tropical regions (in Brazil, Colombia, and Tanzania). Automatic detection of gullies, the use of local knowledge for data selection and integration, and the importance of timing of satellite images, are some of the topics considered. The main conclusion is that effective methods for the application of satellite data and specific data integration methods are strongly dependent on regional characteristics.
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