A Probabilistic Statistical Risk Assessment Method for Soil Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Dali River Basin

Soil erosion risk assessment enables the identification of areas requiring priority treatment and avoids wasting human and material resources. The factor scoring method used in existing studies has high subjectivity, and the method of expressing erosion risk according to the soil erosion intensity i...

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Main Authors: Hao Zhao, Yuhui Cheng, Xiwang Zhang, Shiqi Yu, Mengwei Chen, Chengqiang Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-09-01
Series:Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/18/3491
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author Hao Zhao
Yuhui Cheng
Xiwang Zhang
Shiqi Yu
Mengwei Chen
Chengqiang Zhang
author_facet Hao Zhao
Yuhui Cheng
Xiwang Zhang
Shiqi Yu
Mengwei Chen
Chengqiang Zhang
author_sort Hao Zhao
collection DOAJ
description Soil erosion risk assessment enables the identification of areas requiring priority treatment and avoids wasting human and material resources. The factor scoring method used in existing studies has high subjectivity, and the method of expressing erosion risk according to the soil erosion intensity ignores the random nature of the occurrence of erosion; therefore, neither method accurately reflects the risk of soil erosion. In order to address this issue, this study proposes a soil erosion risk assessment method that integrates the outcome and the probability of occurrence of soil erosion by means of a probabilistic statistical model. Subsequently, experimental research is conducted in the Dali River Basin. On the basis of long time-series data, using mathematical statistics as a tool and drawing on the empirical frequency formula, the probabilistic statistical risk assessment model is combined with the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model to account for the probability of regional soil erosion at different intensity levels in the long time-series, which is combined with the intensity of erosion to carry out soil erosion risk assessment. The results of our study show the following: (1) The central and southwestern regions of the Dali River Basin (DRB) present medium and high levels of soil erosion risk, with the proportion of low-risk areas increasing annually, accounting for 78.97% of the DRB in 2020, while extremely high-risk areas account for only 0.40% of the DRB. (2) The major components impacting soil erosion risk in the DRB, as revealed by the geodetector, are the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and slope, where the interaction between the two dominated the spatial variation in soil erosion risk. (3) Comparing the soil erosion risk and its status in the coming years, the proposed assessment method based on the occurrence probability can reveal the future soil erosion risk better than the traditional assessment method.
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spelling doaj-art-e764d4acbc2e44b897084f6eb5a339ea2025-08-20T01:55:49ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922024-09-011618349110.3390/rs16183491A Probabilistic Statistical Risk Assessment Method for Soil Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Dali River BasinHao Zhao0Yuhui Cheng1Xiwang Zhang2Shiqi Yu3Mengwei Chen4Chengqiang Zhang5Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaSoil erosion risk assessment enables the identification of areas requiring priority treatment and avoids wasting human and material resources. The factor scoring method used in existing studies has high subjectivity, and the method of expressing erosion risk according to the soil erosion intensity ignores the random nature of the occurrence of erosion; therefore, neither method accurately reflects the risk of soil erosion. In order to address this issue, this study proposes a soil erosion risk assessment method that integrates the outcome and the probability of occurrence of soil erosion by means of a probabilistic statistical model. Subsequently, experimental research is conducted in the Dali River Basin. On the basis of long time-series data, using mathematical statistics as a tool and drawing on the empirical frequency formula, the probabilistic statistical risk assessment model is combined with the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model to account for the probability of regional soil erosion at different intensity levels in the long time-series, which is combined with the intensity of erosion to carry out soil erosion risk assessment. The results of our study show the following: (1) The central and southwestern regions of the Dali River Basin (DRB) present medium and high levels of soil erosion risk, with the proportion of low-risk areas increasing annually, accounting for 78.97% of the DRB in 2020, while extremely high-risk areas account for only 0.40% of the DRB. (2) The major components impacting soil erosion risk in the DRB, as revealed by the geodetector, are the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and slope, where the interaction between the two dominated the spatial variation in soil erosion risk. (3) Comparing the soil erosion risk and its status in the coming years, the proposed assessment method based on the occurrence probability can reveal the future soil erosion risk better than the traditional assessment method.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/18/3491soil erosion riskrevised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE)probability of occurrenceDali River Basin
spellingShingle Hao Zhao
Yuhui Cheng
Xiwang Zhang
Shiqi Yu
Mengwei Chen
Chengqiang Zhang
A Probabilistic Statistical Risk Assessment Method for Soil Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Dali River Basin
Remote Sensing
soil erosion risk
revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE)
probability of occurrence
Dali River Basin
title A Probabilistic Statistical Risk Assessment Method for Soil Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Dali River Basin
title_full A Probabilistic Statistical Risk Assessment Method for Soil Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Dali River Basin
title_fullStr A Probabilistic Statistical Risk Assessment Method for Soil Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Dali River Basin
title_full_unstemmed A Probabilistic Statistical Risk Assessment Method for Soil Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Dali River Basin
title_short A Probabilistic Statistical Risk Assessment Method for Soil Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Dali River Basin
title_sort probabilistic statistical risk assessment method for soil erosion using remote sensing data a case study of the dali river basin
topic soil erosion risk
revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE)
probability of occurrence
Dali River Basin
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/18/3491
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