Comparative Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Water Soil Erosion Assessment Methods: A Case Study of The Boudinar Watershed, Morocco

Abstract

Soil erosion is a major natural hazard in the Mediterranean Rif mountainous, leading to dam siltation, land degradation, and other environmental and economic problems. The eight thematic areas selected in this study for water soil erosion mapping were rainfall, lithology, LULC, slope, soil, soil (USLE), NDVI, and temperature. The analysis of the spatial distribution of the classes within the qualifying soil erosion maps indicates that PAP/RAC is the most convincing, while EPM is the most effective for quantifying models. Field validation confirmed the accuracy and consistency of the PAP/RAC model with the observed data, reinforcing its reliability for capturing erosion processes in the Boudinar basin and highlighting areas for potential improvement in future modeling efforts. To address soil erosion in the basin, the use of the EPM model to estimate average annual soil erosion and PAP/RAC to generate a potential erosion map is recommended