Sediment yield modelling of an agricultural watershed using MUSLE, remote sensing and GIS

A study was undertaken to estimate the sediment yield of the Karso watershed of Hazaribagh, Jharkhand State, India using modified universal soil loss equation (MUSLE), remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. The runoff factor of MUSLE was computed using the measured values of runoff and peak rate of runoff at outlet of the watershed. The topographic factor (LS) was determined using GIS while crop management factor (C) was determined from land use/land cover data, obtained from RS and field survey. The conservation practice factor (P) was obtained from the literature. Sediment yield at the outlet of the study watershed was simulated for 345 rainfall events spread over a period of 1996–2001 and validated with the measured values. Nash–Sutcliffe simulation model efficiency of 0.8 and high value of coefficient of determination (0.83) indicated that MUSLE model estimated sediment yield satisfactorily.