Abstract:

Soil erosion poses severe limitations to sustainable agricultural land use, as it reduces on-farm soi productivity and causes the accumulation of sediments and agri-chemicals in waterways. Current models are designed to assess soil erosion at high resolutions, and are not suitable to develop regional soil conservation strategies. A physically based and spatially distributed model will be developed, calibrated and validated to quantify soil erosion in a nested strategy of focusing on environmentally sensitive areas relevant to European scale. Accurate databases will be compiled and upgraded through satelite image processing and computational techniques. The project will concentrate on promoting a robust and flexible model by demonstrating its performance at different resolutions and across agro-ecological zones, and by ensuring its relevance to policy-makers through impact assessment and scenario analysis. A strong expert and end-user network will be established across Europe.

Contacts

Coordinator

• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology / BELGIUM
• Gerard GOVERS / Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology / BELGIUM

Participant

• Costas KOSMAS / Agricultural University of Athens GREECE
• Juan PUIGDEFABREGAS / Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas (EEZA) / SPAIN
• Robert JONES / European Soil Bureau (CEC DG JRC) Environment Institute / ITALY
• Godert VAN LYNDEN / International Soil Reference and Information Centre NETHERLANDS
• Mike KIRKBY / University of Leeds School of Geography / UNITED KINGDOM