Digital elevation models (DEM) used to assess soil erosion risks: a case study in Boyaca, Colombia

The objective of this research was to develop a model for assessing the risk of erosion, exploring the potential of DEMs from SRTM, ASTER, ALOS PALSAR and one made with interpolation of a 1:25,000 contour map to calculate the variables of the relief that have greater impact on erosion. Several geomo...

Full description

Autores:
Buitrago E., Jeiner Yobany
Martínez M., Luis Joel
Tipo de recurso:
Article of journal
Fecha de publicación:
2016
Institución:
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Repositorio:
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Idioma:
spa
OAI Identifier:
oai:repositorio.unal.edu.co:unal/58556
Acceso en línea:
https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/58556
http://bdigital.unal.edu.co/55339/
Palabra clave:
57 Ciencias de la vida; Biología / Life sciences; biology
58 Plantas / Plants
DEM
erosion
geomorphometric
fuzzy logic
Rights
openAccess
License
Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional
Description
Summary:The objective of this research was to develop a model for assessing the risk of erosion, exploring the potential of DEMs from SRTM, ASTER, ALOS PALSAR and one made with interpolation of a 1:25,000 contour map to calculate the variables of the relief that have greater impact on erosion. Several geomorphometric parameters, such as slope, aspect, profile and plan curvature, topographic wetness index, stream power index, and sediment transport capacity were computed from the DEM´s elevation, some fuzzy logic functions proposed to evaluate the incidence of each parameter on erosion risk in a mountainous area of Colombia. The results showed that the use of DEM data is a relatively easy, uncostly method to identify, in a qualitative way, the risk of erosion and contribute to the enhancement of erosion information that is obtained with conventional general soil surveys.