Estimating the Risks of Water Erosion According to the EPM Model and its Relationship to Slope in the Rizan River Basin

Abstract

This study aims to estimate the level of water erosion in the Rezan River Basin, by applying the Gavrilovic model and finding the spatial relationship between erosion values and regression rates in the basin. The inductive approach and analytical method were relied upon to reach the goal of the study. Geographic information systems (Arc GIS) techniques were used to prepare the model requirements, which are categories of elevation and slope, layers of rock structures and soil, establishing lines of equal temperature and rainfall, then applying the Gavrilovic equation. According to the results of potential erosion, it appeared that more than half of the area of the region is dominated by generalized erosion that quantity ranges between (5000 – 20000 m³/ km²/ year) representing 57.6% of the area of the study area. The smallest area showed strong erosion, the amount of which ranges between (5000 – 20000 m³/ km²/ year), representing 5.4%. Through the spatial intersection between the layers of erosion and the degrees of slope, it appeared that erosion increases with the increase in slope rates in the study area.