Relationship between drought and soil erosion based on the normalized differential water index (NDWI) and revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model

doi:10.1016/j.regsus.2024.100183

Abstract

Abstract:

The Langat River Basin in Malaysia is vulnerable to soil erosion risks because of its exposure to intensive land use activities and its topography, which primarily consists of steep slopes and mountainous areas. Furthermore, climate change frequently exposes this basin to drought, which negatively affects soil and water conservation. However, recent studies have rarely shown how soil reacts to drought, such as soil erosion. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between drought and soil erosion in the Langat River Basin. We analyzed drought indices using Landsat 8 satellite images in November 2021, and created the normalized differential water index (NDWI) via Landsat 8 data to produce a drought map. We used the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model to predict soil erosion. We verified an association between the NDWI and soil erosion data using a correlation analysis. The results revealed that the southern and northern regions of the study area experienced drought events. We predicted an average annual soil erosion of approximately 58.11 t/(hm²•a). Analysis of the association between the NDWI and soil erosion revealed a strong positive correlation, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.86. We assumed that the slope length and steepness factor was the primary contributor to soil erosion in the study area. As a result, these findings can help authorities plan effective measures to reduce the impacts of drought and soil erosion in the future.

Key words: Drought, Soil erosion, Normalized differential water index (NDWI), Revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE), Langat River Basin

Muhammad RENDANA, Wan Mohd Razi IDRIS, Febrinasti ALIA, Supli Effendi RAHIM, Muhammad YAMIN, Muhammad IZZUDIN. Relationship between drought and soil erosion based on the normalized differential water index (NDWI) and revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model[J]. Regional Sustainability, 2024, 5(4): 100183.

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Data type	Raw data	Time	Source of data	Preprocessing step
Rainfall	Climate parameter	November 2021	Department of Meteorology, Malaysia	Using Excel to tab delimited format conversion
Elevation	SRTM DEM	November 2021	USGS Earth Explorer	Reprojected coordinate system and clipping the AOI
Soil type	Soil classification	November 2021	Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Malaysia	Attribute table entry for soil characteristic
Slope	SRTM DEM	November 2021	USGS Earth Explorer	Reprojected coordinate system and clipping the AOI
NDWI	Landsat 8 OLI	November 2021	USGS Earth Explorer	Atmospheric correction and clipping the AOI
Land cover	Landsat 8 OLI	November 2021	USGS Earth Explorer	Atmospheric correction and clipping the AOI

Soil series	Soil classification	Value of K factor (t•hm²•h/(hm²•MJ•mm))	Soil series	Soil classification	Value of K factor (t•hm²•h/(hm²•MJ•mm))
Serdang-Kedah	Acrisols	0.036	Selangor-Kangkong	Dystric cambisols	0.051
Serdang-Bungor-Munchong	Acrisols	0.038	Telemong-Akob-Local alluvium	Dystric cambisols	0.051
Munchong-Serembang	Plinthic acrisols	0.039	Peat	Histosols	0.040
Prang	Ferrasols	0.040	Urban land		0.042
Rengam-Jerangau	Acrisols	0.043	Steep land		0.042
Gajah Mati-Munchong-Malacca	Ferric acrisols	0.051	Mined land		0.042
Kranji	Thionic gleysols	0.051

Land cover type	Value of C factor	Land cover type	Value of C factor	Land cover type	Value of C factor
Water body	0.0000	Settlement	0.0020	Agricultural land	0.2800
Vegetation	0.0008	Bare land	0.1300

Slope (%)	Value of P factor	Slope (%)	Value of P factor	Slope (%)	Value of P factor
<7.0	0.27	11.4-17.6	0.40	>26.8	0.50
7.0-11.3	0.30	17.7-26.8	0.45

r	Level of correlation	r	Level of correlation
0.00<r≤0.19	Very low correlation	0.60<r≤0.79	High correlation
0.20<r≤0.39	Low correlation	0.80<r≤1.00	Very high correlation
0.40<r≤0.59	Moderate correlation