Abstract

This study aimed to demonstrate the effects of spatial resolution in modeling water erosion by the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). In this study, three specific objectives were defined: Evaluation of the effect of the geographic information source on water erosion, seasonal effects on the potential production of sediments, as well as public policies concerning the different scenarios. The topographic factor (LS) of this equation was determined using four digital terrain models, with different spatial resolutions (10 and 30 m). The results of this factor prove to be influenced by the resolution of the DEM used. The spatial modeling of water erosion was carried out by combining the various input variables of the RUSLE model. The analysis of the obtained erosion maps revealed that its production is influenced by the spatial resolution and by the seasonality, demonstrating that the DEM obtained via DRONE presented the lowest values of soil loss potential in any scenario. Thus, it was verified a need to implement practices for the management of soil cover and conservation to reduce vulnerability to water erosion in the watershed.

Key words: Soil erosion, geographic information system (GIS), watershed, modeling, hydrology.