Survey of current and potential soil erosion through the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) for the municipality of Castelo-ES, Brazil

Abstract

Studies related to soil erosion are extremely important as they help to determine areas with greater environmental vulnerability and assist in territorial management. The objective of this work was to evaluate the current erosion and potential of the soil from the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) for the municipality of Castelo, state of Espirito Santo, Brazil, as a way to subsidize improvements in the area. The procedures were performed in the ArcGIS® program, having as digital cartographic bases the Integrated System of Geospatial Bases of Espírito Santo, the National Water Agency and the Jones dos Santos Neves Institute. The Digital Elevation Model of the area was generated to then obtain the direction and accumulated water flow. The maps of potential and current soil erosion were generated from the data of: erosivity, erodibility, land use, conservation practices and topographic factor. Erosion was mapped and quantified, and potential erosion was quantified by local community. To assist in the studies, photographic records were made depicting some local environmental problems. The municipality has a large area (83,77%) vulnerable to potential erosion due to its physical characteristics, while there are communities that have most of their area with high risk of soil loss. As for the current erosion, which considers land use and conservation practices, most of the municipality (43,64%) has a low risk of soil loss. However, there are degraded areas of agriculture, harming water courses, for example. Government action and the implementation of conservation practices are some suggestions to minimize environmental problems.