HYDROLOGICAL-ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION AND ESTIMATION OF AREAS SUBJECT TO WATER EROSION IN THE ARROLLO PRIETO MICROBASIN GUANAJUATO

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.9733162305104

• Palavras-chave: Characterization, erosion, morphometry, RUSLE.

• Keywords: Characterization, erosion, morphometry, RUSLE.

• Abstract:

  The estimation of water erosion was carried out in areas of the Arroyo Prieto micro-basin in the Bajío Guanajuatense in the southeast of the state of Guanajuato and part of the state of Michoacán, including the municipalities of Yuriria, Puruándiro, Moroleón and Valle de Santiago. The delimitation of the study area, calculation of morphometric parameters and estimation of erosion was carried out using the processing software for Geographic Information Systems ArcGis10.3. To estimate annual soil loss, a raster layer was generated for each factor of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and a multiplication of the layers was carried out, resulting in a map of erosion levels for each scenario. The total surface area of the study area is 50,959.33 ha, with a main land use in irrigated agriculture, a pelic Vertisol soil type and a main channel of 48.34 km. It was found that the potential erosion of the area is from low to medium, the good vegetation coverage that exists makes real erosion important in some restricted areas of the basin, in which some strategy for soil conservation must be carried out and monitoring the evolution of land uses in order to eliminate high erosion rates from which there is no opportunity to return to a balanced state.