Assessment of soil erosion and sediment yield using a SWAT model and remote sensing data in the Kharokh watershed in the lower Harirod River Basin, Afghanistan | |
| Author | Ghafori, Sowaida |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.RS-17-12 |
| Subject(s) | Soil erosion--Afghanistan Sediment transport--Afghanistan Remote sensing--Afghanistan |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis;no. RS-17-12 |
| Abstract | Assessment of soil erosion and sediment transport, environmentally and economically is a significant issue in the Karokh watershed. Soil degradation is causedbyflooding, scarce vegetation cover, and steep gradient land, and socioeconomic constraint has negative impact on human life and environment in this basin. In order to decrease soil erosion rate and sustain soil productivity, it is needed to quantify the magnitude and extent of soil erosion in a spatial domain. Therefore, current study as a first of its kind in the Karokh watershed aims to estimate sediment yield using Soil and Water Assessment Tool(SWAT)model and remote sensing data from year 2008 to 2013 and identify critical areas in the basin due to soil erosion. Landcover map as an important input to SWAT model was prepared based onLandsat7image. The image classification was done for year 2013 using supervised classification method. The hydrologic model of watershed by SWAT executed for six years. The SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Procedures(SWAT-CAP) tool combined with Sequential Uncertainty Fitting (SUFI-2)method was used to calibrate and validate hydrologic model in the Karokh watershed. After a calibration the SWAT simulation resulted in25.58 ton/ha/year as an average among the basin that ranged from 0.05ton/ha/year to84.2ton/ha/year depending sub basin properties. The result was used for assessing critical sediment source areas in five classes. The severest subbasins with 28% area ratio located in upstream of watershed with high precipitation and steep slope with less vegetation cover and generated 36% of total sediment yield from whole watershed. In summary, the results demonstrated that SWAT model is an appropriate tool for simulating runoff and sediment yield for the basins of Karokh watershed. |
| Year | 2017 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis;no. RS-17-12 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology |
| Department | Department of Information and Communications Technologies (DICT) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Remote Sensing (RS) |
| Chairperson(s) | Miyazaki, Hiroyuki |
| Examination Committee(s) | Nagai, Masahiko;Shrestha, Sangam;Ochi, Shiro |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | AFG Western Basins Water Resources Management Project;AIT Fellowship |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2017 |