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Coarse Scale Remote Sensing and GIS Evaluation of Rainfall and Anthropogenic Land Use Changes on Soil Erosion in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, West Africa

Kossi Dodzi Bissadu1,, Yawovi Sena Koglo2, Dode Bendu Johnson3, Komlavi Akpoti4

1Grantham University, Lenexa, KS 66219, United States of America

2Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique (ITRA), BP:1163 Lomé, Togo/ WASCAL Climate Change and Land Use, Department of Civil Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, University private email box, KNUST, Kumasi

3African Regional Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AFRIGIST), formerly Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Surveys (RECTAS), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Obafemi Awolowo University Campus, PMB. 5545, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria

4University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana. Land Suitability Analyst (GIS and Remote Sensing)

Journal of Geosciences and Geomatics. 2017, 5(6), 259-266. DOI: 10.12691/jgg-5-6-1
Published online: December 08, 2017

Abstract

In this study, impacts of rainfall and land use changes on soil erosion in Nasarawa State, Nigeria in changing climate, were investigated by applying remote sensing techniques, Geographical Information System (GIS) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Results revealed that, changes in rainfall intensity and land cover types are the core drivers of soil erosion in Nasarawa State over 30-year (1985–2014) periods. Besides, erosion rates and magnitude were more affected by changes in soil cover than changes in rainfall amount. Therefore, agroecology agricultural systems (e.g. soil mulching, minimum tillage, agroforestry, rotational cropping systems, use of mechanical and biological anti erosive measures) could be the most efficient way of combatting soil erosion concerns while scaling-up rainfed agriculture adaptation.

Keywords:

land use change, rainfall change, soil erosion, Remote Sensing, GIS, RUSLE, Agroecology
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