Modelling of stream run-off and sediment output for erosion hazard assessment in Lesser Himalaya: need for sustainable land use plan using remote sensing and GIS: a case study

• Published in: Natural hazards (Dordrecht) 2011-12, Vol.59 (3), p.1277-1297
• Main Authors: Rawat, Pradeep K., Tiwari, P. C., Pant, C. C., Sharama, A. K., Pant, P. D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Anthropogenic factors; Case studies; Civil Engineering; Disasters; Dolomite; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Environmental factors; Environmental Management; Erosion; Erosion rate; Erosion rates; Exact sciences and technology; Forests; Geographic information systems; Geology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Gypsum; Hazards; Hydrogeology; India; Land; Land use; Land utilization; Limestone; Lithology; Modelling; Natural Hazards; Natural hazards: prediction, damages, etc; Original Paper; Remote sensing; Rivers; Rocks; Runoff; Shales; Soil erosion; Sustainable development; Sustainable use; Water; Watersheds
• ISSN: 0921-030X; 1573-0840
• DOI: 10.1007/s11069-011-9833-5

Assessment and inventory on soil erosion hazard are essential for the formulation of successful hazard mitigation plans and sustainable development. The objective of this study was to assess and map soil erosion hazard in Lesser Himalaya with a case study. The Dabka watershed constitutes a part of the Kosi Basin in the Lesser Himalaya, India, in district Nainital has been selected for the case illustration. The average rate of erosion hazard is 0.68 mm/year or 224 tons/km 2 /year. Anthropogenic and geo-environmental factors have together significantly accelerated the rate of erosion. This reconnaissance study estimates the erosion rate over the period of 3 years (2006–2008) as 1.21 mm/year (398 tons/km 2 /year) in the barren land having geological background of diamictite, siltstone and shale rocks, 0.92 mm/year (302 tons/km 2 /year) in the agricultural land with lithology of diamictite, slates, siltstone, limestone rocks, while in the forest land, it varies between 0.20 mm/year (66 tons/km 2 /year) under dense forest land having the geology of quartzwacke and quartrenite rocks and 0.40 mm/year (132 tons/km 2 /year) under open forest/shrubs land having geological setup of shale, dolomite and gypsum rocks. Compared to the intensity of erosion in the least disturbed dense forest, the erosion rate is about 5–6 times higher in the most disturbed agricultural land and barren land, respectively. The erosion hazard zones delineated following scalogram modelling approach. Integrated scalogram modelling approach resulted in severe classes of soil erosion hazard in the study area with numerical values of Erosion Hazard Index (EHI) ranging between 01 (very low hazard) and 5 (very high hazard).