Assessing the potential of soil erosion in Kyrgyzstan based on RUSLE, integrated with remote sensing

Soil erosion is a serious ecological and economic issue occurring in all regions across the biosphere. Soil erosion contributes to land degradation, endangering both the pastoral and natural environments in Kyrgyzstan. This study objective is to identify the potential of soil erosion in Kyrgyzstan and estimate the total soil loss rate. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model with remote sensing (RS) was used to show the distribution of risk zones of soil erosion and soil loss. Variables were obtained from Kyrgyz Hydro-Meteorological agency, Harmonized World Soil Data (HWSD), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (MOD13Q1-MODIS/Terra), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), and Global Land Cover Map (GlobeLand30). The study results display that the average annual soil erosion amount in Kyrgyzstan was 5.95 t ha(-1) year(-1), with an annual soil loss of 113.7 x 10(6) t year(-1). The entire area was separated into seven erosion risk classes. More than 28% of the territory of Kyrgyzstan is affected by limited soil erosion; the average volume of potential erosion is around 1.0 t ha(-1) year(-1). The northeastern and central parts of the country mainly experienced low soil erosion, whereas the west and southwestern parts were subject to high-to-extremely high soil erosion rates. This is the first time this method has been used to estimate the potential of soil loss throughout the country; it provides suitable tools for identifying priority areas for considering measures to decrease soil erosion risk. Our findings give valuable implementations for assessing soil loss and protecting the environment.