Assessment of
soil erosion risk of marginal plain of the Ganga River: a case study of the lower
Chambal watershed in Uttar Pradesh, India
Singh Ajay Pratap, Gaund Rishikesh and Chandra Sushil
Disaster Advances; Vol. 18(12); 41-50;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/1812da041050; (2025)
Abstract
The focus of this study is to assess the annual soil loss in the lower watershed
of the Chambal basin within the Agra district. This estimation is carried out using
the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in conjunction with Geographic
Information System (GIS) tools and remote sensing data. Agra’s river channels and
their tributaries are particularly susceptible to land degradation and soil erosion
due to intense fluvial activity and the presence of infertile soils. These conditions
contribute to the formation of ravines and gullies along the riverbanks. To calculate
the rainfall-runoff erosivity (R) factor, average annual precipitation data from
the past decade were analyzed. Soil data obtained from the Remote Sensing Applications
Centre, Lucknow, at a scale of 1:10,000 were used to estimate the K factor for different
soil types.
The LS factor was derived from a 30-meter ASTER Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Additionally,
the cropping management (C) factor was determined using NDVI values derived from
Landsat 8 data, processed with GIS techniques. The P factor which distinguishes
between agricultural and non-agricultural land, was also considered. The annual
soil erosion estimates revealed that the region is predominantly affected by soil
loss ranging from 77 to 1,359 tonnes per hectare per year, mainly concentrated in
ravine and gully-affected areas. However, in certain regions, soil loss was estimated
to be as high as 19,999 tonnes per hectare per year, highlighting the urgent need
for intervention and management by local authorities and administrative bodies.
