Estimating water erosion using RUSLE, GIS and remote sensing in Wadi-Qandeel river basin, Lattakia, Syria

Soil erosion is the major prominent ecological risk threatening agricultural sustainability in the coastal region of western Syria. The ongoing war conditions in Syria has led to a lack of field data and measurements related to the spatial evolution of soil loss. Estimating the spatial distribution of potential soil loss is a fundamental procedure in applying the soil conservations measures within the river catchments. The current paper goals to conduct a comprehensive assessment of soil loss risk utilizing revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and remote sensing (RS) data in geographic information system (GIS) environment across the entire Wadi-Qandeel river basin. Results indicate that the annual rate of soil loss in the study area was 93.02 t ha−1 ya−1 with a spatial average reaching 58.22 t ha−1 ya−1. Additionally, the soil loss risk map was generated with classification into five susceptible zones: very low (56.44%), low (24.69%), moderate (20.80%), high (2.98%), and very high (2.22%). The present assessment showed a reliable approach to soil erosion rates and categorization of erosion-sensitive zones within the study area. These outcomes can be relied upon to create mitigation procedures for maintaining zones with high and very high soil loss susceptibility under the ongoing war conditions in Syria.