Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in Warsaw, 2017 Institut e of Technology and Life Sciences (ITP) in Falenty, 2017 [628608]

© Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in Warsaw, 2017; © Institut e of Technology and Life Sciences (ITP) in Falenty, 2017
© Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Committee on Agronomic Sciences J OURNAL OF WATER AND LAND DEVELOPMENT
Section of Land Reclamation and Envi ronmental Engineering in Agricult ure, 2017 2017, No. 34 (VII–IX): 205–213
© Institute of Technology and Life Sciences (ITP), 2017 PL ISSN 1429–7426
Available (PDF): http://www.itp.edu.pl/wydawnictwo/journal; http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jwld
Received 11.02.2017
Reviewed 03.05.2017 Accepted 24.05.2017
A – study design
B – data collection
C – statistical analysis
D – data interpretation
E – manuscript preparation
F – literature search Mapping of soil erodibility and assessment
of soil losses using the RUSLE model
in the Sebaa Chioukh Mountains (northwest of Algeria)
Maamar MEGHRAOUI1) ABDEF
, Mohamed HABI2) ADEF,
Boutkhil MORSLI3) ADEF, Mohamed REGAGBA3) ABD,
Abdelhakim SELADJI3) ABD
1) University of Tlemcen, Department of Forest Resources, BP88, Mansourah Tlemcen, Algeri a, 13000 Tlemcen, Algeria;
e-mail: [anonimizat]
2) University of Tlemcen, Department of Hydraulic, BP 230, Tlemcen 13000, Algeria; e-mail: [anonimizat]
3) National Institute for Forest Research, BP 88, Tl emcen 13000, Algeria; e-mail: [anonimizat],
[anonimizat] , [anonimizat]
For citation: Meghraoui M., Habi M., Morsli B., Regagba M., Sela dji A. 2017. Mapping of soil erodibility and assessment
of soil losses using the RUSLE model in the Sebaa Ch ioukh Mountains (northwest of Algeria). Journal of
Water and Land Development. No. 34 p. 205–213. DOI: 10.1515/jwld-2017-0055.
Abstract
In Algeria, erosion and solid transport constitute a major constraint to the development of agriculture and to
the management of hydrotechnical works (more than 20% are silted). Due to the irregular rains that characterize
the Mediterranean semi-arid zones, the topography of the mountainous areas, the fragility of the soils, the ab-
sence of vegetation cover and the inappropriate cropping systems, the Sabaa Chioukh Mountains shows a dis-
sected topography, frequent and violent floods. It is ther efore absolutely important and crucial to assess, spatially
and quantitatively, the effects of soil erosion in order to face the phenomenon and to propose the best strategies
for conservation and land management. This study aims to map the soils erodibility, using remote sensing, and
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) taking into accoun t the soil types. In order to achieve the objective, we
calculated the factors of the RUSLE eq uation. The results obtained showed that 26,760 ha i.e. 56.58% of our
study area are exposed to an annual soil loss of 150 to 200 t·ha–1. These areas are located in fersiallitic soils and
vertisols and especially in non-cultivable areas which have high slope values.
Key words: GIS, remote sensing, RUSLE, Sebaa Chioukh Mountains
INTRODUCTION
Erosion in Algeria is a serious environmental, ag-
ricultural and social problem that affects and threatens
huge areas of our country. Nearly 50 million hectares
are threatened by desertification and water erosion, of which 14 million hectares in mountain areas are af-
fected by water erosion M
OSTEPHAOUI et al. [2013]. It
is therefore imperative to assess spatially and quanti-tatively the effects of soil erosion and to propose the
best control strategies.
Our objective is the detection of eroded areas in
the Sebaa Chioukh Mountain s as well as the assess-
ment of the factors controlling erosion and their char-acteristics and the specialis ation with the RUSLE em-
pirical equation (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equa-
tion, established by R
ENARD et al. [1997]. This study
makes it possible to quantify the soil in tons per hec-DOI: 10.1515/jwld-2017-0055

206 M. MEGHRAOUI, M. HABI, B. MORSLI, M. REGAGBA, A. SELADJI
© PAN in Warsaw, 2017; © ITP in Falenty, 2017; Journal of Water and Land Development. No. 34 (VII–IX) tare which can be unleashed annually. This is
achieved through two complementary ways:
– mapping of soil erodibility by processing the
LANDAST satellite image followed by soil analy-
sis of the taken samples;
– integration of the erosion assessment model
(RUSLE) into a geographic information system, in
order to locate the priority areas for possible man-
agement intervention.
PRESENTATION OF THE STUDY AREA
Geographically the Sebaa Chioukh mountains are
part of the interior Tellian mountain range, and are
located in the northwest of Algeria between the fol-
lowing geographical coordinates: 1°27'1,67" and
0°58'3" W and 35°3'16.8" and 35°13'44.7" N. This
mountain range extends over an area of 475 km2, from
Dioussiane Djebel (627 m) to the Tessala Mounts
from West to East. The summits, located to the west at about 5 km, south of Aïn Kihal, at Aïn Taqbalet,
and at the East in the Touil Djebel at Aoubellil, cul-
minate respectively at 684 m and 824 m. The heights extend parallel to the dominant outcrops of the limit-
ing ridges. This space represents a well-identified ge-
ographical entity considering its rugged relief of East-West orientation, overlapping the Wilayas of Tlemcen
and Aïn Témouchent (Fig. 1).
The climate of the stud y area is Mediterranean:
semi-arid with relatively low annual rainfall ranging
from 400 to 600 mm. According to lithology map, the
Mountains of Sabaa Chioukh reflect a great diversity of surface formations with predominance of friable
limestones and clay soils derived from marl forma-
tions. The dominant cropping system in the Sebâa Chioukh Mountains is the cereal / fallow association
which occupies nearly 42% of the utilised agricultural
land. The latter does not reflects the actual vocation of
the zone. Annual crops remain largely dominant to the
detriment of perennial crops recognized for their role as a soil fixer.

Fig. 1. Location map of th e Mounts of Sebaa Chioukh
(Algeria); source: own elaboration MATERIALS AND METHODS
Our methodological approach was based on two
steps.
1. Soil erodibility mapping: soil erodibility is an
estimate of the soil’s ability to withstand erosion
based on the physical characteristics of each soil W
ALL et al . [1987]. The mapping was done on the
basis of a 9.09.2011 multi spectral satellite image,
knowing that the satellite images make it possible to obtain pedological information such as colour, or-
ganic and calcareous contents, surface stones, rough-
ness, depth and texture of the soil [G
IRARD , GIRARD
1999]. The image processing was done with the ENVI
software, by a maximum likelihood-type supervised
classification using TM trichromy (7.5.1), and then allowed us to make an inventory on the large soil
units, by soil-landscape mapping, which defined by
[G
IRARD 1983] as a set of soil horizons and landscape
elements. Even the works done by G IRARD [1975;
1977], N AERT [1977], E SCADAFAL [1989], K ING
[1994] and E SCADAFAL et al. [1995] show that a syn-
thesis information represented by the concept of pedo-
landscaping or descending mapping is sufficient in a first time, to know the major classes of soils. It will
be introduced, in a second step, in a geographical in-
formation system (GIS) in order to orient the land use towards a suitable development, and then one can
move to the scale of the plot.
The sampling sites for soil analysis and observa-
tion were chosen on the basi s of the areas which show
approximately the different spectral responses of the
TM trichromy (7.5.1); see Figure 2.

Fig. 2. Sampling of the soil as a function of the spectral
response: a) satellite image Landsat 09/09/2011,
b) geographical location for sampling;
source: own elaboration

Mapping of soil erodibility and assessment of soil losses using the RUSLE model in the Sebaa Chioukh Mountains… 207
© PAN in Warsaw, 2017; © ITP in Falenty, 2017; Journal of Water and Land Development. No. 34 (VII–IX) After the creation of soil-landscape map, which
includes the large soil-landscape units, the erodibility
of each soil unit was defined, for the value of K esti-
mated using the [W ISCHMEIER , MANNERING 1969]
nomogram which takes into account the properties of
the soil, of the content of silt and the very fine sand (0.002–0.1 mm), the sand content (0.1–2.0 mm), the
organic matter content, the surficial horizon structure,
the permeability and the profile depth. These five pa-rameters are introduced suc cessively into an abacus,
which makes it possible to easily obtain the value of
the K factor for a given soil [B
OLLINE , ROSSEAU
1978]. 2. The second step of our methodological ap-
proach consists in the integration and representation
of cartographic and descriptive information on the different factors and parameters of erosion in a geo-
graphic information system platform.
However, the RUSLE model is selected from the
most applicable models due to its very simple struc-
ture and the thrifty entry of data in relation to the
available data and the scale of the investigation K
HALI
ISSA et al . [2016]. The equation has been integrated
under a geographic information system to allow mod-
elling and an exhaustive mapping of the erosive phe-
nomenon. Our approach is illustrated in Figure 3.

Fig. 3. Schematic of th e methodological approach; source: own elaboration
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. Synthetic pedo-landscape Map: from analyses
carried out on soil samples, parameters such as parti-
cle size, pH, total limestone, carbon, and organic mat-
ter and colour were determined in Table 1.
The creation of the soil-landscape map allowed us
to identify 06 soil units (Tab. 2) distributed spatially
according to the relief, the lithological substratum and the vegetation (Fig. 4).
1.1. Fersiallitic soils: they are with calcium reserve
and they occupy an area of 20 210 ha, or 42.57% of the study area, or without calcium reserve over an
area of 1 395 ha, or 2.94% of the study area. These two units show high erodibility, about 0.38 to 0.46.
1.2. Vertisols: they are, in fact, very clayey soils,
consisting of swelling clays. This unit occupies
15 650 ha, or 32.96% with a high erodibility at about
0.35 to 0.38. 1.3. Soils not well evolved from erosion: these
young soils settle on soft materials (clays), this unit
occupies a less important area about 803.7 ha or 1.69%, and an erodibility in the order of 0.23 to 0.35.
Table 1. Results of soil analyses
Organic material No. pH Limestone
CaCO 3, % C % M,O % Granulometry texture Colour
1 7.70 19.50 0.46 0.80 clay loam brownish black 3/1
2 7.83 30.06 0.61 1.06 loam grayish yellow brown 6/2
3 7.95 17.81 1.04 1.79 clay loam grayish yellow 6/2
4 7.84 – 0.85 1.46 clay loam brownish black 3/1
5 7.90 13.31 1.08 1.86 loam yellowish brown 5/3
6 7.90 6.70 0.23 0.40 loam dull reddish brown 5/3
7 7.96 – 1.31 2.26 sandy clay loam brown 4/6
8 7.93 0.73 0.46 0.80 sandy clay reddish brown 4/6
9 7.79 – 1.62 2.79 loamy sand reddish brown 4/6
10 8.23 31.72 0.23 0.40 clay grayish yellow brown 6/2
11 8.00 8.93 1.23 2.13 loam dull reddish brown 4/4
12 7.99 40.83 1.08 1.86 loam dull yellow orange 6/4
13 7.93 33.92 2.39 4.12 loamy sand brownish black 3/2
14 7.79 18.41 2.47 4.26 loam dark reddish brown 3/2
15 7.81 22.05 0.96 1.66 clay yellowish brown 5/3
Source: own study.

208 M. MEGHRAOUI, M. HABI, B. MORSLI, M. REGAGBA, A. SELADJI
© PAN in Warsaw, 2017; © ITP in Falenty, 2017; Journal of Water and Land Development. No. 34 (VII–IX) Table 2. The soil units of the study area
Soil unit Area
ha % Erodi-
bility
Brown calcareous calcimagnesic soils 7 373 15.53 0–0.23
Vertisols 15 650 32.96 0.35–0.38
Fersiallitic soil with calcium reserve 20 210 42.57 0.38–0.46
Fersiallitic soil w ithout calcium reserve 1 395 2.94 0.38–0.46
Soils not well evolved from erosion 803.7 1.69 0.23–0.35
Iso-humic soils 1 864 3.93 0.38–0.46
Source: own study. 1.4. Brown calcareous calcimagnesic soils: they are
soils which release sufficient quantities of active
limestone. They are deeper an d, above all, much rich-
er. These soils occupy an area of 7 373 ha, or 15.53%.
This soil unit is resistant to erosion with erodibility of
0 to 0.23. 1.5. Iso-humic soils: these soils are less important in
our study area with 1864 ha, or 3.93% with erodibility
of 0.38 to 0.46.

Fig. 4. Pedo-landscap map of Sabaa Ch ioukh Mountains; source: own elaboration

Fig. 5. Erodibilit y of soil (factor K); source: own elaboration
2. RUSLE Factor Mapping
2.1. Soil erodibility (factor K): Figure 5 shows the
spatial distribution of the different K factor classes in
the mountain massif of Sebaa Chioukh. The values of
the erodibility index are between 0 and 0.46 and are
distributed in the study area according to the different soil units. The study area generally has an average
erodibility (0.38–0.46) covering almost the total area (78.48%), on the fersiallitic soils and vertisols, fol-
lowed by a low erodibility (0–0.23) or 15.53% located
in the northern side of the massif on the calcareous brown limestone soil unit.
2.2. Vegetation cover (factor C): factor C is defined
as the ratio between bare soil losses under specific conditions and soil losses corresponding to soils under
operating system [W
ISCHMEIER , SMITH 1978] in (E L 5 km

Mapping of soil erodibility and assessment of soil losses using the RUSLE model in the Sebaa Chioukh Mountains… 209
© PAN in Warsaw, 2017; © ITP in Falenty, 2017; Journal of Water and Land Development. No. 34 (VII–IX) GAROUANI et al . [2008]). This factor was estimated
from the land use map which represents the effects of
vegetation, management, and erosion control and real-ized by processing the L ANDSAT image by the EN-
VI software, using the superv ised classification of the
maximum likelihood of Trichromy TM (4.3.1). It al-lowed us to establish the units that occupy the soil of
the mountainous massif of Sebaa Chioukh.
The land use map (Fig. 6) shows that our study
area is dominated by bare soils and badlands “the ul-
timate stage of erosion”, see Table 3, with an area of
23 225.5 ha or 49.1%, and a higher C factor (around
0.75), since the vegetation cover protects the soils and
ensures the damping of the raindrops. Soil losses de-crease with the increase of the vegetation cover
S
OUTTER et al. [2007]. But our zone has only a small
area of this protective cla ss “clear forests”, which ap-
pears with a red colour (see Fig. 7) with about 3 510.5
ha, or 7.42%.
Table 3. Land use of the study area
Land use Area, ha % Factor C
Clear forests 3 510.5 7.42 0.08
Crop fields 3 575.2 7.55 0.25
Rangelands 16 712.5 35.33 0.26
Bare soils and badlands 23 225.5 49.10 0.75
Water surface 271.4 0.57 –
Source: own elaboration.
2.3. Factor LS: this factor (Fig. 8) shows the impor-
tance of slope angle and length in the processes of
sheet and gully erosion. It generally reflects the ter-
rain topography. The topographic data were obtained from a digital elevation model “DEM”. This factor
was calculated by the W
ISCHMEIER and SMITH [1978]
in (S ADIKI et al. [2004]):
)2 065.0 045.0 065.0()13.23/( S S m L LS ++⋅ =
where: L = the slope length, m; S = the slope angle,
%; m = a parameter such as m = 0.5 if the slope >5%;
0.4 if the slope is 3.5 to 4.5%; 0.3 if the slope is 1 to
3% and 0.2 if the slope is <10%.
2.4. Factor R: the erosivity or erosive aggressiveness
of rainfall is the parameter used to estimate the ability of rain to produce slope erosion (including the forma-
tion of small rills) by integrating over a period of time
all events likely to contribute [B
ORGES 2012].
Given the absence of some meteorological infor-
mation ( I30, the maximum intensity of rain in 30 min),
only the annual rainfall of the five meteorological stations was computed, for the Sebaa Chioukh moun-
tain massif, applying the Fournier rainfall aggressive-
ness: R = 0.03 P
1.288 (P = annual rainfall) using the
geostatistical module with the ArcGis software. These
results are summarized in Table 4 and Figure 9.
2.5. Factor P: the practical su pport factor ( P) in
RUSLE expresses the influence of conservation
methods on erosion. The P factor reflects the used
cultivation techniques (land management modes such Table 4. Meteorological station of study area
Station Annual rainfall, mm Factor R
Aghlal 475 84.08
Izdihar 431 74.18
Bensekrane 424 72.63
Pierre chat 376 62.22
Oubellil 491 87.74
Source: own study.
as; plowing mode and crops direction) and soil con-
servation measures (slopes re-vegetation) BOUGUER –
RA et al. [2017]. It is equal to the unit for a soil culti-
vated in the direction of the slope, according to
SCHWAB et al. [1966]. They analysed numerous plots
or different conservation systems, conservation fac-tors were determined and ar e presented in Table 5 and
Figure 10.
Table 5. Recommended and adapted conservation factors
by S CHWAB et al. [1966]
Slope, % Contouring In band Terrace with con-
tour cultures
Parallel to field
boundaries 0.8 – –
1.0–2.0 0.6 0.30 –
2.1–4.0 0.5 0.25 0.10
4.1–7.0 0.5 0.25 0.10
7.1–12.0 0.6 0.30 0.12
12.1–18.0 0.8 0.40 0.16
Sup 18.0 0.9 0.45 –
Source: own study.
The P factor was estimated from the land use map
and the reclassified slopes map according to the
method of S CHWAB et al . [1966] adapted from the
works of [S MITH , WISCHMEIER 1957; 1962].
2.6. Factor A (annual soil losses): the superposi-
tion of maps of different factors involved in soil water
erosion yielded a map of soil losses at any point in the mountain massif of Sebaa Chioukh (Fig. 11). Thus the
losses are about 150 to 200 t·ha
–1·yr–1 on an area of
26 760 ha, or 56.58% of the territory, due to the erod-ibility of the fersiallitic soils and vertisols and espe-
cially in bare soils and badlands, which have high
slope values (Tab. 6). The second class of 100 to 150 t·ha
–1·yr–1 is also important with an area of 13 690 ha,
or 28.94% of the territory, is observed in the eastern
part; this is mainly explained by the steep slope with the fersiallitic soils and vertisols dominance despite
the presence of a sparse vegetal cover. In the northern
side of the massif, soil losses are lower, about 50 to 100
t·ha
–1·yr–1, i.e. 6.52% of the territory. Dominance of
calcareous brown calcimagnesi c soils, with low erod-
ibility (0.23), helps to reduce soil losses, and espe-
cially with the presence of a vegetal cover. The class
of 0–50 t·ha–1·yr–1 coincides with areas of clear forest
on calcareous brown calcimagnesic soil, and espe-
cially at peaks where the sl ope is less, this class cov-
ers an area of 3 482.7 ha, or 7.36% of the territory.

210 M. MEGHRAOUI, M. HABI, B. MORSLI, M. REGAGBA, A. SELADJI
© PAN in Warsaw, 2017; © ITP in Falenty, 2017; Journal of Water and Land Development. No. 34 (VII–IX)

Fig. 6. Land use of the study area; source: own study

Fig. 7. Factor C (land use); source: own study

Fig. 8. Factor LS (length of slope); source: own study

Mapping of soil erodibility and assessment of soil losses using the RUSLE model in the Sebaa Chioukh Mountains… 211
© PAN in Warsaw, 2017; © ITP in Falenty, 2017; Journal of Water and Land Development. No. 34 (VII–IX)

Fig. 9. Factor R (aggressivity of rain fall); source: own study

Fig. 10. Factor P (practice factor); source: own study

Fig. 11. Factor A (annual average soil loss); source: own study

212 M. MEGHRAOUI, M. HABI, B. MORSLI, M. REGAGBA, A. SELADJI
© PAN in Warsaw, 2017; © ITP in Falenty, 2017; Journal of Water and Land Development. No. 34 (VII–IX) Table 6. Annual average soil loss
Factor A
t·ha–1·yr–1 Area, ha %
0 276.0 0.58
0–50 3 482.7 7.36
50–100 3 086.3 6.52
100–150 13 690.1 28.94
150–200 26 760.0 56.58
Source: own study.
CONCLUSIONS
During this work, our ai m was to analyse the spa-
tial variability of soil erodibility, based on the syn-
thetic pedo-landscape map, which determines the soil-landscape relationship, using satellite imagery and
analyses of the soil. The average erodibility is 0.38 to
0.46 covering almost the total area (78.48%). It is re-lated to the internal nature of the soil, thus playing an
important role in erosion, including the texture, struc-
ture, organic matter content and permeability. The erosion map has also been developed which provides
extensive information on the potential for sediment
production at the scale of the mountain massif of Se-baa Chioukh, yielding an annual loss of 150–200 t·ha
–
1 on 56.58% of the territory. This value is well above
the tolerable threshold, it is favoured by erosion fac-
tors which also combine to accelerate erosion, signifi-
cant losses (nearly 70% of the total area of the massif have a very steep slope), moderately erodible soils
(78.48% of the soils show a K factor between 0.38
and 0.46), a degraded vegetation cover (49.1% of bare soils and badlands), and an index of climatic aggres-
siveness ranging from 62.22 to 87.74.
The GIS has made it possible to manage ration-
ally the different factors of soil degradation, it gives
us relatively reliable results that can provide valuable
help to forest managers in order to simulate evolution scenarios and, target prior ity areas that require con-
servation and erosion control actions.
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Maamar MEGHRAOUI, Mohamed HABI, Boutkhil MORSLI,
Mohamed REGAGBA, Abdelhakim SELADJI
Mapowanie erozyjno ści gleb i ocena strat gleby w górach Sebaa Chioukh
(północno-zachodnia Algieria) za pomoc ą modelu RUSLE
STRESZCZENIE
Erozja i transport zawiesiny stanowi ą w Algierii g łówne ograniczenie rozwoju rolnictwa i zarz ądzania infra-
strukturą hydrotechniczn ą (ponad 20% urz ądzeń jest zamulonych). Z powodu nieregularnych opadów typowych
dla półpustynnych obszarów śródziemnomorskich, topografii rejonów górskich, wra żliwości gleb, braku pokry-
wy roślinnej i niew łaściwych systemów upraw w górach Sebaa Chioukh o zró żnicowanej topografii wyst ępują
częste i gwa łtowne powodzie. Dlatego bezwzgl ędnie konieczne jest dokonanie oceny (w skali przestrzennej
i ilościowej) skutków erozji glebowej w celu zmierzenia si ę z tym zjawiskiem i zaproponowania najlepszej stra-
tegii ochrony i gospodarki przestrzennej. Przedstawione badania mia ły na celu wykonanie map erozyjno ści gleb
z użyciem teledetekcji i systemu GIS z uwzgl ędnieniem typów gleb. Aby to osi ągnąć, obliczono wspó łczynniki
w równaniu RUSLE. Uzyskane wyniki dowodz ą, że 26 760 ha, tzn. 56,58% obszaru bada ń, doświadcza rocz-
nych strat gleby w ilo ści od 150 do 200 t·ha–1. Obszar bada ń położony jest na glebach krzemionkowo- żelazistych
i vertisolach wyst ępujących szczególnie na terenach ni ewykorzystywanych rolniczo o du żym stopniu nachyle-
nia.

Słowa kluczowe: GIS, góry Sebaa Chioukh, model RUSLE, teledetekcja