GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS OF SOIL EROSION IN THE NILGIRIS REGION OF TAMIL NADU, INDIA USING RUSLE AND GIS

  • Unique Paper ID: 185818
  • PageNo: 3160-3170
  • Abstract:
  • Soil erosion is a critical land degradation issue globally, caused by agricultural intensification, deforestation, and anthropogenic activities. This study applies the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and Geo-information technology to evaluate soil erosion vulnerability in the Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu. Spatial analysis of the annual soil erosion rate was conducted using GIS-based raster methods, integrating five key factors: R (rainfall erosivity), K (soil erodibility), LS (slope length and steepness), C (cover management), and P (conservation practices). Results classify soil erosion risks into five categories: Low (>5), Moderate (5–10), High (10–20), Very High (20–40), and Severe (40–80). The study area shows that 70.2% of the district has low erosion risk, 15.6% moderate, 8.1% high, 4.1% very high, and 2% severe erosion risk. The maximum soil loss observed is 55.3 tons/ha/year, with a mean annual soil loss of 0.22 tons/ha/year. Steep slopes, deforestation, and intensive agriculture significantly influence erosion patterns.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{185818,
        author = {Kavya M and Dr M Kumar},
        title = {GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS OF SOIL EROSION IN THE NILGIRIS REGION OF TAMIL NADU, INDIA USING RUSLE AND GIS},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {5},
        pages = {3160-3170},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=185818},
        abstract = {Soil erosion is a critical land degradation issue globally, caused by agricultural intensification, deforestation, and anthropogenic activities. This study applies the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and Geo-information technology to evaluate soil erosion vulnerability in the Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu. Spatial analysis of the annual soil erosion rate was conducted using GIS-based raster methods, integrating five key factors: R (rainfall erosivity), K (soil erodibility), LS (slope length and steepness), C (cover management), and P (conservation practices). Results classify soil erosion risks into five categories: Low (>5), Moderate (5–10), High (10–20), Very High (20–40), and Severe (40–80). The study area shows that 70.2% of the district has low erosion risk, 15.6% moderate, 8.1% high, 4.1% very high, and 2% severe erosion risk. The maximum soil loss observed is 55.3 tons/ha/year, with a mean annual soil loss of 0.22 tons/ha/year. Steep slopes, deforestation, and intensive agriculture significantly influence erosion patterns.},
        keywords = {soil erosion, soil loss, erosion risk, RUSLE, remote sensing and GIS.},
        month = {October},
        }

Cite This Article

M, K., & Kumar, D. M. (2025). GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS OF SOIL EROSION IN THE NILGIRIS REGION OF TAMIL NADU, INDIA USING RUSLE AND GIS. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 12(5), 3160–3170.

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