About the Journal
In Memory of Professor Jerzy Radecki
Editorial Office
Editorial Board
Scope
Impact Factor
Indexed in...
Journal Impact Factor contributing items
Contact
Subscription
Current issue
Online first
Instructions for Authors
Frequently Asked Questions
Editorial policies
PJOES Publication Policy Overview
PJOES Peer Review Policy
PJOES Research Ethics and Malpractice Policy
PJOES Plagiarism Policy
PJOES Conflict of Interest Policy
PJOES Open Access Policy
PJOES Instructions for Reviewers
Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
Archive
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Assessing Soil Erosion Risk in Kazakhstan:
A RUSLE-Based Approach for Land Rehabilitation
1
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
2
International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines
3
United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Ontario, Canada
Submission date: 2024-02-01
Acceptance date: 2024-04-18
Online publication date: 2024-12-30
Publication date: 2025-01-28
Corresponding author
Aigul Tokbergenova
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi avenue, 71, 050040, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi avenue, 71, 050040, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(3):3187-3198
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Soil degradation is increasing in Kazakhstan, leading to severe losses in land productivity.
The Almaty region, the country’s leading agricultural and industrial province, is among the most affected
areas. The objective of this study is to evaluate, for the first time, the applicability of the revised model
of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) for estimating the rate of soil erosion and identifying areas
susceptible to soil erosion in the Almaty region. The revised USLE (RUSLE) factors, including rainfall
erosivity, soil erodibility, slope length, and steepness, were represented using data on soil, topography,
and land use/vegetation cover from the region. Using the RUSLE model’s algorithms, we generated
an erosion risk map, emphasizing areas with a high potential for erosion. The results show higher soil
erosion rates in agricultural areas with steep slopes and inadequate environmental practices – annual
soil losses in the region are as high as 26,279 t/ha/year in high-risk areas. On average, approximately
88% of the region’s territory loses up to 103 t/ha/year, while 9% loses about three times as much.
Such potential soil erosion risks warrant the implementation of efficient soil conservation strategies
in the region to protect soils, ensure desired agricultural productivity, and support the journey
in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
REFERENCES (48)
1.
PIMENTEL D. Soil Erosion: A Food and Environmental Threat. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 8 (1), 119, 2006.
2.
IPCC Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems, 2019.
3.
SVETLICHNY A.A. Spatial geoinformation modeling and forecast of water erosion of soils. Проблеми безперервної географічної освіти і картографії, (17), 44, 2013.
4.
ALEWELL C., BORRELLI P., MEUSBURGER K., PANAGOS P. Using the USLE: Chances, challenges and limitations of soil erosion modelling. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, 7 (3), 203, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswc....
6.
TOKBERGENOVA A.A., KALIYEVA D.M., ZULPYKHAROV K.B., BISSENBAYEVA S.B., TAUKEBAYEV O.Z. Soil fertility assessment of agricultural land in the Almaty region using GIS technologies, 69 (2), 2023.
7.
MORGAN R.P.C., MORGAN D.D.V. Problems of validating a Meyer-Wischmeier type soil erosion model with field data. In Soil Conservation: problems and prospects., John Wiley ed.; Chichester, pp. 327, 1981.
8.
BENNEMA T.J.D.M. The role of soil erosion and land degradation in the process of land evaluation. Soil conservation problems and prospects proceedings of Conservation. 80 the International Conference on Soil Conservation held at the National College of Agricultural Engineering Silsoe Beford UK 21st 25th July 1980 edited by RPC Morgan, 5, 1981.
9.
LAND ADMINISTRATION OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE OF THE REPUBLIC OF K. Consolidated analytical report on the condition and utilization of lands of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2021 year. Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, Astana, 2022.
10.
BAIZAKOV S., TOKTASYNOV Z. Kazakhstan Case Study - Policy Brief. More sustainable land management in desert forests can lead to economic and environmental benefits. The Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative, 2016.
11.
BAYSHANOVA A.E., KEDELBAYEV B.S. Problems of soil degradation. Analysis of current state of the fertility of irrigared soils in Kazakhstan, (№ 2), 5, 2016.
12.
YODER D.C., FOSTER G.R., WEESIES G.A., RENARD K.G., MCCOOL D.K., LOWN J.B. Evaluation of the RUSLE Soil Erosion Model, 2001.
13.
MERRITT W.S., LETCHER R.A., JAKEMAN A.J. A review of erosion and sediment transport models. Environmental Modelling & Software, 18 (8), 761, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-....
14.
SHINDE V., TIWARI K., SINGH M. Prioritization of micro watersheds on the basis of soil erosion hazard using remote sensing and geographic information system. International Journal of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, 2, 130, 2010.
15.
Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated September 23, 2022, 735, 2023. https://doi.org/10.2174/187152....
16.
DEPARTMENT OF LAND RELATIONS OF ALMATY R. Report on availability of lands and their distribution by categories, owners of land plots, land users and land plots, 2023.
17.
KAZHYDROMET Annual bulletin of monitoring of the climate state and climate change in Kazakhstan: 2021. Republican State Enterprise Kazhydromet, Astana, 2022.
18.
TSKHAY M.B., KWAN Y.R., KALASHNIKOV P.A., KALDAROVA S.M. Change in water consumption of agricultural crops in Almaty region during global warming, (3), 88, 2021.
20.
WISCHMEIER W.H., SMITH D.D. Predicting rainfall erosion losses from cropland east of the Rocky Mountains: guide for selection for practices for soil and water conservation. Guide for Selection of Practices for Soil and Water Conservation, 1965.
21.
NEARING M.A., YIN S.-Q., BORRELLI P., POLYAKOV V.O. Rainfall erosivity: An historical review. CATENA, 157, 357, 2017.
22.
LEPRUN J.-C. A erosão, a conservação e o manejo do solo no nordeste brasileiro: balanço, diagnóstico e novas linhas de pesquisas. Ministério do Interior, Superintendência do Desenvolvimento do Nordeste, 1981.
23.
FAO Digital Soil Map of the World (DSMW) | Land & Water | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Land & Water | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
24.
WILLIAMS J. Computer Models of Watershed Hydrology-Chapter 25: The EPIC Model. Water Resources Publications, 1995.
25.
MOORE I.D., BURCH G.J. Physical Basis of the Length-slope Factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 50 (5), 1294, 1986. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1....
26.
GITAS I., DOUROS K., MINAKOU H., SILLEOS G., KARYDAS C. Multi-temporal soil erosion risk assessment in N. Chalkidiki using a modified USLE raster model. EARSeL eProceedings, 8, 2009.
28.
DE ASIS A.M., OMASA K. Estimation of vegetation parameter for modeling soil erosion using linear Spectral Mixture Analysis of Landsat ETM data. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 62 (4), 309, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ispr....
29.
RENARD K.G., FOSTER G.R., WEESIES G.A., MCCOOL D.K., YODER D.C. Predicting soil erosion by water: a guide to conservation planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1997.
30.
WISCHMEIER W.H., SMITH D.D. Predicting rainfall erosion losses: a guide to conservation planning. Government Printing OflBice, Washington, 1978.
31.
GHOSH A., RAKSHIT S., TIKLE S., DAS S., CHATTERJEE U., PANDE C.B., ALATAWAY A., ALOTHMAN A.A., DEWIDAR A.Z., MATTAR M.A. Integration of GIS and Remote Sensing with RUSLE Model for Estimation of Soil Erosion. Land, 12 (1), 116, 2022.
32.
KEBEDE Y.S., ENDALAMAW N.T., SINSHAW B.G., ATINKUT H.B. Modeling soil erosion using RUSLE and GIS at watershed level in the upper beles, Ethiopia. Environmental Challenges, 2, 100009, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc....
33.
GHOSH P., KUMPATLA S.P. GIS Applications in Agriculture. Geographic Information System [Working Title], 2022.
34.
AL RAMMAHI A., KHASSAF P.D.S. Estimation of soil erodibility factor in rusle equation for euphrates river watershed using GIS. International Journal of GEOMATE, 14, 164, 2018.
35.
HIDAYATULLOH A.M., AGUSTA R.P. Soil Erosion Estimation Using RUSLE Method. In Indonesia PostPandemic Outlook: Environment and Technology Role for Indonesia Development, R. Trialih, F.E. Wardiani, R. Anggriawan, C.D. Putra, A. Said Eds., Penerbit BRIN: 2022.
36.
BOYI J. GIS-based time series study of soil erosion risk using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model in a microcatchment on Mount Elgon, Uganda. Lund University, Sweden, 2013.
37.
ATOMA H., SURYABHAGAVAN K.V., BALAKRISHNAN M. Soil erosion assessment using RUSLE model and GIS in Huluka watershed, Central Ethiopia. Sustainable Water Resources Management, 6, (1), 12, 2020.
38.
TESFAYE G. Soil Erosion Modeling Using GIS Based RUSEL Model in Gilgel Gibe-1 Catchment, South West Ethiopia. International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, 15 (5), 2018.
39.
GERASIMOV I.P., GLAZOVSKAYA M.A. Fundamentals of Soil Science and Soil Geography: Approved by the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of the RSFSR as a Textbook for Students of Geography at Universities. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 1965.
40.
KULMATOV R., RASULOV A., KULMATOVA D., ROZILHODJAEV B., GROLL M. The Modern Problems of Sustainable Use and Management of Irrigated Lands on the Example of the Bukhara Region (Uzbekistan). Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 07, 956, 2015. https://doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.....
41.
LIU X., XIN L., LU Y. National scale assessment of the soil erosion and conservation function of terraces in China. Ecological Indicators, 129, 107940, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
42.
AKPLO T.M., ALLADASSI F.K., HOUNGNANDAN P., SAIDOU A., BENMANSOUR M., AZONTONDE H.A. Mapping the risk of soil erosion using RUSLE, GIS and remote sensing: A case study of Zou watershed in central Benin. Moroccan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 1 (6), 2020.
43.
EFTHIMIOU N., LYKOUDI E., PSOMIADIS E. Inherent relationship of the USLE, RUSLE topographic factor algorithms and its impact on soil erosion modelling. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 65 (11), 1879, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/026266....
44.
BOUAMRANE A., BOUAMRANE A., ABIDA H. Water erosion hazard distribution under a Semi-arid climate Condition: Case of Mellah Watershed, North-eastern Algeria. Geoderma, 403, 115381, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geod....
45.
MAQSOOM A., ASLAM B., HASSAN U., KAZMI Z.A., SODANGI M., TUFAIL R.F., FAROOQ D. Geospatial Assessment of Soil Erosion Intensity and Sediment Yield Using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) Model. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 9 (6), 2020.
46.
GONZALEZ S.L., GHERMANDI L. Overgrazing causes a reduction in the vegetation cover and seed bank of Patagonian grasslands. Plant and Soil, 464 (1), 75, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104....
47.
NAEL M., SALARINIK K., ASSADIAN G. Soil quality and vegetation cover characteristics as influenced by diverse grazing regimes and soil disturbance histories in a semi-arid rangeland (Iran). Arid Land Research and Management, 1, 2024.
48.
LI P., TARIQ A., LI Q., GHAFFAR B., FARHAN M., JAMIL A., SOUFAN W., EL SABAGH A., FREESHAH M. Soil erosion assessment by RUSLE model using remote sensing and GIS in an arid zone. International Journal of Digital Earth, 16, 3105, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/175389....
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
