Erosion risk index: Correlation of ROM-scale and Mackintosh Probe at Sungai Langat tributary

Abstract

The assessment of soil erosion risk has been widely studied, and various methods have been established. However, most of the methods require extensive field and laboratory works that are time-consuming. The previous literature mainly focused on utilizing the existed empirical models like USLE and its derivatives. The establishment of empirical correlation can increase the efficiency to estimate the potential of soil erosion in a shorter time. This study was performed to develop an empirical correlation between the number of blows per unit penetration (M-value) obtained from Mackintosh Probe test and ROM-scale number from soil particle size distribution analysis. Both tests were conducted at three different points at one of Sg. Langat tributary riverbank nearby Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi. The soil at each location was analyzed at three different layers, from 0 m to 1.5 m with intervals of 0.3 m and 0.5 m for Mackintosh Probe test and ROM-scale, respectively. The result indicates that ROM-scale umber is inversely proportional to M-value with a coefficient of determination of 0.5885.