Abstract:

The Hutuo River is one of the large tributaries of the Haihe River in Shanxi. Studying the soil erosion in the upstream of the Hutuo River is of great significance for establishing the ecological restoration system of Shanxi. Taking the upstream of the Hutuo River in Xinzhou as the study area, based on the remote sensing image data, data elevation model data, rainfall data and soil type data, we estimated the soil erosion modulus of the upstream of the Hutuo River combined with GIS, RS, the US Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The results showed that: (1) in 2015, the average soil erosion modulus of the upstream of the Hutuo River was 2538.9 t/(km ²·a), which was moderately erosive; the soil erosion types were mainly micro-erosion, extremely strong and severe erosion; (2) as the elevation rose, the higher the soil erosion intensity, the less the soil erosion area was, the elevation was positively correlated with the soil erosion intensity, and negatively correlated with the erosion area; severe erosion distributed in each elevation zone; the slightly erosion area was the largest in the [500,1000) elevation zone; (3) the soil erosion area of the study area was the largest in the 0-5° zone; (4) the soil erosion distribution of pasture and grassland was the widest, followed by cultivated land>forest land>garden land>urban village and industrial and mining land>water area and water conservancy facilities land>other land. The conclusion can provide a scientific basis for the government to adopt suitable soil erosion treatment technical methods, formulate treatment layout and scheme, and determine treatment types and scale.

Key words: soil erosion, GIS, ULSE, RS, the upstream of the Hutuo River