Soil Vulnerability Assessment of Afikpo South Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
Okonufua Endurance
Department of Road Research, Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Olajire O. Olabanji
African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education –in- English, OAU and Centre for Space Research and Applications, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
Ojeh N. Vincent *
Department of Geography, Taraba State University, P.M.B. 1167, Jalingo, Nigeria.
Christiana Ovie Akpoduado
Department of Marine Environment and Pollution Control, Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, Nigeria.
Joshua Maaku Mark
Department of Geography, Taraba State University, P.M.B. 1167, Jalingo, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) integrated with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was adopted to estimate the rate of annual soil loss in Afikpo South Local Government. This is important due to the fact that agriculture is the main source of livelihood in the area. The RUSLE factors were computed using data such as rainfall from NIMET, Soil from FAO, elevation from SRTM and Landsat 8 OLI from USGS. The data were used as input in a GIS environment and the annual soil loss was generated using the RUSLE equation. The result shows that the average annual soil loss ranges from 0 to 155, 858 ha/ton/yr. It was also observed that soil erosion was predominant in the southern part of Afikpo South LGA due to the presence of steep slopes in the area. The study serves as preliminary documentation for planning, conservation and management of soil resources in the Local Government.
Keywords: Soil vulnerability, estimation, RUSLE, Afikpo South, Nigeria.