Soil Erodibility Mapping Using GIS– A Case Study of Dang District in Gujarat

Dang district is severely affected by soil erosion due to heavy rainfall and higher slope, which in turn causes land degradation. Soil erodibility is one of the important factors for land degradation. Keeping this in mind, there is a need to determine the soil characteristics required for estimating the erodibility factor of representative soils of the Dang district. The soil erodibility of the Dang district ranged from 0.18 to 0.44 being, high for the soils with high silt content. The highest value of soil erodibility factor was found in the soils of Satbabla village which had 52.4% sand, 30.2% silt and 17.4% clay, while the lowest soil erodibility factor was found in the soils of Borkhet village having 48.1% sand, 14.3% silt and 37.6% clay. The 44.5% area with higher erodibility values (>0.34) showed higher susceptibility of soils to erosion, while 24.3% area with lower erodibility values (<0.29) showed comparatively lower susceptibility of soils to erosion. Field measurements of soil erodibility are difficult, costly, and often impractical for many hydrologic analyses. This multidisciplinary approach is useful in decision-making and can save time when planners are required to assess the land use management policy with respect to soil erosion.