Coarse Scale Remote Sensing and GIS Evaluation of Rainfall and Anthropogenic Land Use Changes on Soil Erosion in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, West Africa

Abstract

In this study, impacts of rainfall and land use changes on soil erosion in Nasarawa State, Nigeria in changing climate, were investigated by applying remote sensing techniques, Geographical Information System (GIS) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Results revealed that, changes in rainfall intensity and land cover types are the core drivers of soil erosion in Nasarawa State over 30-year (1985–2014) periods. Besides, erosion rates and magnitude were more affected by changes in soil cover than changes in rainfall amount. Therefore, agroecology agricultural systems (e.g. soil mulching, minimum tillage, agroforestry, rotational cropping systems, use of mechanical and biological anti erosive measures) could be the most efficient way of combatting soil erosion concerns while scaling-up rainfed agriculture adaptation.