Assessment of the current soil erosion in Piranga River Basin, Minas Gerais state

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to apply the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) using GIS tools to the Piranga River Basin (PRB), Zona da Mata region, Minas Gerais state, in order to assess the current soil erosion (CSE). The maps of rainfall erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), topographic factor (LS), and use and management of soils (CP) were developed from a geographical model adjusted for Southeastern Brazil, soil, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and land use maps, respectively. It was observed that, in general, more than 77% of the basin presents soil losses smaller than 2.5 Mg ha^-1 yr^-1 being classified as “slight” current soil erosion, which mainly occurred due to the predominance of Latosols especially covered with forests. Furthermore, high soil losses rates were observed in areas with the combination of high LS values and Cambisols covered with pasture, representing 1.69% of the basin area. The use of the RUSLE model integrated to GIS showed to be an effective tool for assessing the current soil erosion in a basin’s scale, providing subsidies for adopting management and conservation practices of the soil and the water in PRB.