Mapping Spatio-Temporal Soil Erosion Patterns in the Candelaro River Basin, Italy, Using the G2 Model with Sentinel2 Imagery

Abstract

This study aims at mapping soil erosion caused by water in the Candelaro river basin, Apulia region, Italy, using the G2 erosion model. The G2 model can provide erosion maps and statistical figures at month-time intervals, by applying non data-demanding alternatives for the estimation of all the erosion factors. In the current research, G2 is taking a step further with the introduction of Sentinel2 satellite images for mapping vegetation retention factor on a fine scale; Sentinel2 is a ready-to-use, image product of high quality, freely available by the European Space Agency. Although only three recent cloud-free Sentinel2 images covering Candelaro were found in the archive, new solutions were elaborated to overcome time-gaps. The study in Candelaro resulted in a mean annual erosion rate of 0.87 t ha−1 y−1, while the autumn months were indicated to be the most erosive ones, with average erosion rates reaching a maximum of 0.12 t ha−1 in September. The mixed agricultural-natural patterns revealed to be the riskiest surfaces for most months of the year, while arable land was the most extensive erosive land cover category. The erosion maps will allow competent authorities to support relevant mitigation measures. Furthermore, the study in Candelaro can play the role of a pilot study for the whole Apulia region, where erosion studies are rather limited.

Spatial Assessment of the Effects of Land Cover Change on Soil Erosion in Hungary from 1990 to 2018

“…While the applied methodology of utilizing the CORINE datasets as input is well established [29], it is best applied for analyzing long-term changes. However, the same methodology could also be utilized to evaluate short-term changes based on Sentinel-2 imagery as demonstrated by Karydas et al [68].…”

Soil Management Effects on Soil Water Erosion and Runoff in Central Syria—A Comparative Evaluation of General Linear Model and Random Forest Regression

“…Notably, more than 40% of total soil erosion were recorded in the first three events (i.e., 10 March 2013; 11 November 2013; 12 November 2013). Several authors stressed the drastic impact of early rainstorms after drought periods in the Mediterranean region on land degradation [87][88][89], while others conclude that few rainy storms were responsible for the larger proportion of soil erosion [90,91].…”

Soil Ecosystem Services and Sediment Production: The Basilicata Region Case Study

“…Our outcomes, furthermore, confirm what assessed by European Soil Bureau [ 13 ] that declared an average annual soil loss ranging from 5 and 10 t/ha in the province of Potenza and ranging from 3 and 5 t/ha in the province of Matera. Although the analysis carried out at the regional scale necessarily uses less detailed dataset than the studies at the basin scale, the maximum value obtained, equal to 282 t/ha/yr, is comparable to what found in the Candelaro basin (Apulia Region) in which a maximum equal to 210 t/ha/yr was assessed [ 76 ]. In fact, it should be noted that the western part of the regional territory falls entirely within the first province and that, as can also be seen from our results, the area along the Ionian coast contributes very little to erosion phenomena, also thanks to the very low slopes that compensate for the negative role of intensive agriculture.…”