Spatial analysis of soil erosion and deposition using physics-based distributed model

Soil erosion, a critical environmental issue primarily driven by water and wind, has severe consequences, including the loss of fertile agricultural land, degradation of water quality, and sediment accumulation in riverbeds.This study utilized the SSEM (surface soil erosion model), a physically-based distributed model, to simulate the rainfall-runoff-sediment dynamics associated with short-term rainfall events in the Naerin River basin.A spatial analysis of erosion and deposition was conducted, taking into account topographical factors such as local slope and overland flow length.The study area was segmented into six sub-catchments using Strahler's stream order method to examine the correlation between geographic factors and erosion or deposition.The findings revealed that erosion was predominant within flow path distances of 0 -1 km (adjacent to the river) and 3 -4 km (in the upper catchment areas).Notably, deposition did not occur in areas beyond 2.5 km from the river.Furthermore, it was observed that average erosion depth increased on steeper slopes (exceeding 0.3 -0.4 degrees), whereas deposition was absent in these steep slope classes.