Erosion modelling in Turkey using locational information system

In recent years, many countries have included Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in their management systems because GIS can be used as an effective tool for assessing erosion, modeling, monitoring, and mapping the extent of erosion prone areas. In order to assess erosion conditions and predict potential impacts of erosion, comprehensive techniques and models need to be created. In this study, PESERA (Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment) as a physically-based regional-scale soil erosion model was applied to estimate the monthly and annual soil loss for different land use/cover types in Turkey. Models that have been developed for large areas or national scale have been more widely used approach for national and regional resource management. In this study, the amount of soil loss from the surface of the country in a year is estimated as 46 million tons. The amount of fertile soil loss in agricultural lands is approximately 13.500 million tons/year. This clearly shows that 30% of total erosion results from the agricultural areas. It was estimated that 68% of the erosion is in the scrub and degraded forest areas, 2% of the remaining part is also in forests and urban areas. Keywords: Erosion, erosion modeling, erosion in Turkey, PESERA erosion modeling