Raissouni Et Al. 2012. GIS-Based Model To Assess Erosion Sensitivity in Northern Morocco. Laou Watershed Case Study (Final)

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International Journal of Geosciences, 2012, 3, 610-626

http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ijg.2012.33061 Published Online July 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ijg)

GIS-Based Model to Assess Erosion Sensitivity in Northern


Morocco. Laou Watershed Case Study
Ahmed Raissouni1*, Lamiae Khali Issa1, Abdelkrim El Arrim1, M. Maâtouk1, Roberto Passalacqua2
1
Laboratory of Environment, Oceanology and Natural Resources (LEORN), Department of Earth Sciences,
Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tangier, Morocco
2
Department of Civil, Environmental & Building Engineering (DICAT), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Email: *[email protected]

Received February 13, 2012; revised March 16, 2012; accepted April 15, 2012

ABSTRACT
This application on the Laou watershed represents the first part of study results that concerns the development of a
model for mapping soil susceptibility at a regional scale in northern Morocco using spatial databases and Geographic
Information Systems (GIS). The model uses qualitative decision rules and hierarchical organization of data represented
by different thematic maps. Those laters are derived from input erosion parameters which are coded according to their
sensitivity to water erosion. Superposing effect of several layers: geology, geomorphology, land use and topography,
allows we the obtaining of a qualitative map showing the potential sensitivity to erosion per unit area. The obtained map
shows that severe erosion affects the Southern and North-western sectors of the basin, even if they present the least
erodible lands of all the basin and have, as well, a relatively dense plant cover. It may be concluded that both high gra-
dient and damaged terrain state represent the main factors of water erosion in the Laou watershed.

Keywords: Soil Erosion; Laou Watershed; Environment; GIS

1. Introduction Therefore, the identification of erosion factors and


vulnerable areas to soil erosion could be very helpful to
1.1. Definitions and Basic Concepts evaluate the expansion and the degree of the risks and,
Soil, usually referred to as “land”, is generally defined as ultimately, to develop conservation measures and soil/
the top layer of the earth’s crust formed by mineral parti- water management plans.
cles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms. It is
essentially a non-renewable resource with potentially 1.2. Overview and Objectives
rapid degradation rates and extremely slow formation
During the twentieth century, the erosion has increased
and regeneration processes.
dramatically worldwide. About 85% of land degradation
Soil erosion is a natural geological phenomenon and a
in the world is associated to the soil erosion, most of
serious geo-environmental problem worldwide [1]. It is
which occurred during the last five decades, causing 17%
defined as the loosening, dissolving and removal of rock
reduction in crop productivity [8,9]. In an overview of
materials from all parts of the earth’s surface triggered by
global erosion and sedimentation, reference [10] stated
a complex interaction process of many factors: natural
that more than 50% of the world’s pastureland and about
(climate, topography, soil, vegetation) and antropogenic
80% of agricultural land suffer from significant erosion
(tillage systems, soil conservation measures, overgrazing
[7].
and deforestation) [2,3].
The Mediterranean region is historically the most af-
The results of soil erosion are the loss of soil functions
fected by erosion since it is subject to long dry periods
and ultimately the loss of soil itself [4]. Consequent
followed by heavy bursts of erosive rain, falling on steep
damages could be on-site such as the loss of soil and nu-
slopes with fragile soils. In parts of the Mediterranean
trient and could also be out-site such as pollution and
region, the erosion has reached a stage of irreversibility
siltation of water resources and reservoir sedimentation.
[11,12].
However, those latter are usually more costly and severe
In Morocco, soils are eroded to rates that exceed ex-
than the on-site effects [5-7].
tremely international standards as well as the rate of pe-
*
Corresponding author. dogenesis under the Mediterranean climate. Some agri-

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A. RAISSOUNI ET AL. 611

cultural areas have already declined due to soil erosion. able management of soil resources preceded by a spa-
In this situation, it is important to establish measures of tially distributed erosion risk assessment [13,14].
soil conservation in order to reduce land degradation and The objective of this study is to provide a map of soil
to assure a sustainable management of soil resources. sensitivity to erosion of a representative region of the
The implementation of these measures has to be pre- north of Morocco, the Laou watershed case study, and to
ceded by a spatially distributed erosion risk assessment evaluate its accuracy.
[13,14]. Most advanced figures in Morocco are mainly Being a wide area, it was evident to opte for the geo-
based on silting of existing dams; measures of the turbi- referencing of the most meaningful parameters which are
dity of runoff and indices of risk of erosion [15-17]. involved in the erosion process, such as: topography,
A reconnaissance study showed that for 22.7 million lithology, geomorphology and land use. Thus, a specific
hectares assessed, 8.2 million hectares (36%) are culti- database has been built for each one of these affecting
vated of which 18% requires severe measures of soil factors using a GIS platform.
conservation; 13.4 million hectares (59%) should be en- The developed model is already applied successfully
hanced by grazing and forest and 1.1 million hectares to soil erosion modelling at various scales when detailed
(5%) know intense erosion and therefore should be ex- input data are unavailable [26-33]. It uses qualitative
cluded from all agricultural development. So, 64% of the decision rules and hierarchical organization of the avail-
total area of ponds should not be cultivated [18]. able data, represented by various thematic maps estab-
Quantitative studies on erosion processes in Morocco lished from data of basic environmental parameters (such
are scarce and mapping erosion risks at a regional scale as geology, geomorphology, land cover, slope, and an-
has not been performed even though general situations of nual rainfall).
soil-water erosion have been described. All studies car-
ried out before were at sub-watershed and rarely at wa- 2. The Laou Watershed
tershed scales.
The information and data available do not allow map- The Laou watershed is situated in the Northwestern part
ping of susceptibility of soil to erosion by water across of Morocco, precisely at the north central part of the Rif
Morocco. However, an attempt to classify the erosion chain also called the High Rif. It is located between
risk based on a combination of three factors (topography, 35˚29'22''N and 35˚00'54''N, and 05˚04'16''W and
soil and substrate, aggressive climate) has distinguished 05˚26'05''W (Figure 1). This watershed of a width of 28
seven physiographic regions. The average western and km E-W and 47 km long N-S, drains an area of 939,242
southern Rif Mountains are the most exposed to erosion. km2 within a perimeter of 168,335 km. It is bordered by
In the Rif Chain (Northern Morocco), several local the peaks of Jebel Kelti (1928 m) to the west, Soukna
studies have been applied to evaluate and quantify the (1800 m) and Tissoukai (2122 m) to the south-east, Ta-
erosion risk, especially in the western and central Rif zoute (2159 m) to the north-east and the Mediterranean
[19-25]. The Chain, to which belongs our study area, is Sea to the north (Figure 2).
generally constituted of limestone and friable formations The main course of the wadi, which takes the name of
as marls, shales and flyschs. It shows a complex of poorly the river Laou, covers a distance of 70 km. It stretches
evolved soils, resulting from crude minerals, brown soils from Bab Taza, where it rises at Jbel Tissoukai, then
and soils with Iron/Manganese sesquioxides [18]. It is
across the limestone ridge to the alluvial plain where it
systematically exposed to torrential rains. Its plant cover
flows into the Mediterranean. Most tributaries receive
has suffered from an intense deterioration during these
low flow, the most important are: O. Tassikesté, O. Farda,
last decades, because of the rising demographic pressure
O. Kalâa, O. Essarem, O. Talambote, O. Moulay Bouchta,
(overgrazing and land reclamation) and from a sequence
of several years of drought [25]. O. Wara and O. Maggo. This latter is the headwaters of
AN ANALYSIS BY PHOTO INTERPRETATION Laou. It occupies the lower western slopes of Jebel Lak-
OF 280 HECTARES IN THE Central-western Rif raa (the highest summit of the limestone ridge) (Figure
showed that the forest and scrubland, respectively regress 1).
of 989 ha/year and 2858 ha/year. At current rates of Concerning geology, the study area is situated in the
clearing in this area, and according to socio-economic axial zone of the Rif chain, which presents a typically
situation, the forest and matorral would disappear respec- mountainous terrain and low plains. The middle and
tively around the year 2014 and 2019 [18]. lower courses of the Oued Laou wander through an in-
In this context, it is necessary to develop a soil erosion tra-mountainous old valley, while it originates from the
model based on factors influencing soil-water erosion at Chefchaouen morphostructure which represents a sig-
regional scale and to establish soil conservation measures nificant form of the Tingitane peninsula [34-39].
which can reduce land degradation and assure a sustain- In the upper and lower basin, there is a predominance

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612 A. RAISSOUNI ET AL.

Figure 1. Geographical situation of the Laou watershed.

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A. RAISSOUNI ET AL. 613

Figure 2. Digital elevation model of the Laou watershed.

of the flysch formations, mainly in the upper one [35, wadi is settled into quaternary alluvium and scree [39,
40-42]. Moving lower, there is the presence of a meta- 41-44] (see Figure 4).
morphic formation represented by the Sebtides unit, con- The relief is generally very articulated, damaged and
stituted by mica-schists, gneiss and peridotites; then, in characterized by steep slopes (Figure 2) except for the
the north there is the Ghomarides unit, formed mainly by downstream coastal plain.
schists. Finally, the alluvial plain and the edge of the Concerning the climate, the study area has two very

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614 A. RAISSOUNI ET AL.

different types of climates [45]: data sets, in the model execution and in the output of
 Reliefs have a Mediterranean mountain climate with results [53,54]. The use of the GIS technologies makes
high winter rainfall (800 and 1400 mm/year up to the application of these models easier since their input
about 2000 on the highest peaks), often as snow, and parameters could be generated from geographic data-
dry warm summers. The recorded temperatures range bases and also, the results could be generated as a carto-
between 2.3˚C and 33.8˚C. graphic output for better interpretation. On the other hand,
 Coastal strip has quite high relative humidity however the raster data format used in most GIS to synthesize and
the precipitations remain lower than the relief (<500), analyze spatial data makes their use with distributed pa-
with hotter summers and mild winters. The recorded rameter soil models very practical [55].
temperatures have values ranging from 7.2˚C to 28.6˚C. In the developing nation like Morocco, collecting am-
The plant cover is very diverse and takes different ple information is very difficult due to lack of expert
forms generally divided into forest matorrals, fallow and engaged in such works and the lack of sophisticated
crops. There are four types of vegetation levels in the equipments to be used nationwide.
watershed of the Oued Laou: the Thermo-mediterranean, Our study area is characterized by a complex land-
the Meso-mediterranean, the Supra-Mediterranean and scape: it presented by a mosaic of landscape units, each
the Montane-Mediterranean [46-48]. The staging of the one can react differently to the erosive action of water.
altitudinal vegetation is presented by the following key- Mapping of soil sensitivity to erosion using one of these
essential forest timbers: Sandarac or the Barbary thuja methods of soil loss is very difficult and requires heavy
(Tetraclinis articulate), Cork Oak (Quercus suber) and investment especially for large areas, there’s also the lack
Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis). In the Talassemtane of rainfall data because of scarce climate stations in the
Park there are other valuable vegetations, well repre- study area. Thus, the tool was designed to accommodate
sented by pinsapo Abies, Cedrus atlantica, Fir (Abies and use the currently available data in the study area.
maroccana), Cedar (Cedrus atlantica), Holm Oak (Que- The sensitivity of a terrain to erosion is strongly de-
rcus rotundifolia) and maritime pine (Pinus pinaster pendent of its soil nature, vegetation and topographic
subsp. hamiltonii) [49,50]. In relation to waterways, there characteristics. These factors vary greatly at a catchment
are specific species such as riparian (83 woody species or regional scale.
inventoried) [45-49,51]. All the factors of water erosion are geographic. There-
The principal activities of this region are mainly the fore, the cartography of these factors could be done eas-
agrarian sector and agriculture in particular, followed by ily and efficiently using GIS with various data layers
livestock. The rest of economic activities, such as Indus- representing watershed boundary, slope, land use, and
try, handicrafts, commerce, etc. are not well-developed soils. The combination of this data layers allows the as-
except for tourism sector. This latter is relatively impor- sessment of soil sensitivity to erosion per pixel unit.
tant especially in Chefchaouen town. This study was undertaken to explore the application
of GIS technology in the assessment of erosion risk. It
3. Methodology represents a first attempt of application at a regional scale
In recent years, methods for assessing and mapping water in Morocco. The primary objective was to develop read-
erosion effects are associated with GIS and remote sens- ily transferable GIS-based maps to be used by land re-
ing. It is true that, with these modern techniques, it is source managers in order to evaluate agricultural land
gradually discovered the interests of spatialization meth- management and conservation practices in terms of soil
ods for assessing and mapping soil erosion over large loss potential.
areas and creating scenarios for rehabilitation. Geoinformation data was collected and compiled using
Many studies and techniques implemented around the GIS techniques. The GIS was used to prepare required
world were done about potential soil loss calculation. spatial data, to extract input parameters for the model, to
Most of them were based on Universal Soil Loss Equa- execute the model computations and to display results
tion (USLE) and its revised version (RUSLE) [52]. Oth- and maps. All relevant information can be input, stored,
ers had modified part of the equation to fit in every processed and analyzed in the GIS system. The output
country’s situation. In this study, we tried to fast-track can be used by decision-makers for sustainable land use
the process using the capabilities of GIS. planning and sustainable land management at local and
In most soil and hydrologic simulation models, several regional scales.
input parameters are required and their derivation can be The developed model (Figure 3) uses qualitative deci-
a complex task depending on variability of the landscape. sion rules, evaluations and hierarchical organization of
Researchers have successfully interfaced these models the available data, represented by various maps estab-
with GIS platforms to assist in the generation of input lished from data of basic environmental parameters.

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A. RAISSOUNI ET AL. 615

Figure 3. Diagram summarizing the stages of the model.

These latters are hierarchised and weighted on the basis For each combination of these factors, the sensitivity
of current knowledge on the different types of function- of land to erosion thus defined, is increased or decreased
ing erosion. based on an index combining geology, topography and
This is a cognitive model represented as a logical tree land use.
where each crossing of factors leads to several possible For each type of geological formations, are given a
results, each excluding the other. class of slope (Table 1), and a class of land use (Table 2)
The choice of a tree-type decision model requires (Figure 4). For example, on a very hilly land (very high
ranking of each parameter. We gave priority to the fac- sensitivity: 5) and an agricultural area (average sensitiv-
tors which have the most important action. The entry ity: 3), the risk of erosion is very high when the soil is
order have been defined from literature, experiments and sandy (high sensitivity: 5) and low when the land is oc-
expert’s decision, giving the “geo-topo-landuse” sensi- cupied by limestone (very low sensitivity: 1).
tivity to erosion to each pixel. These factors, according to After the different factors’ database is rendered into
the rule-decision, have been linked successively into five GIS layers and the empirical model is implemented, the
classes (very low, low, average, high and very high). assessment of the potential sensitivity of land to erosion

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616 A. RAISSOUNI ET AL.

Table 1. Classes of lithology and their sensitivity to water Even in its reduced form as described above, this
erosion. model logically merges between the classes assigned to
Classes Type of lithology Sensitivity to erosion
each erosion parameter on any spatial unit. Following the
resulting combinations, it may be spatially assigned the
1 Limestone Very weak grade of sensitivity.
2 Quaternary sandstone Weak After gridding the various layers, according to the 25 ×
25 m pixels of the interpolated Digital Elevation Model
3 Schist and Gneiss Average
(DEM, Figure 2) we allot, to each pixel-unit, classes of
4 Flysch and marls Elevated land use, of erosion sensitivity and of slope gradient (in
5 Sand Very elevated
percentage).
By the cumulated effect of these affecting factors, we
may assign the potential sensitivity to the erosion of any
Table 2. Classes of land cover and their sensitivity to water
surface unit, within one of 5 grades ranked as: very weak,
erosion.
weak, average, elevated and very elevated.
Classes Type of land cover
Sensitivity to Thus, the rendered map outputs a qualitative spatially
erosion distributed degree of the on-site soils sensitivity to be
Urbanized areas mobilized, per effect of the soil-erosion factors summa-
0 Null
bare rocks rized as above.
Prairies and grazings,
1 Very Weak
forests and Shrubby zones 4. Assessment of the Erosion Factors
Agroforestory zones, The thematic maps of the catchment required for deriva-
2 Weak
permanent cultures
tion of soil erosion parameters are contour maps, stream
3
Heterogeneous agricultural zones
Average network, land cover maps and soil maps. The contour
heath and Schrubs
map was obtained through digitalization using GIS Arc/
4
Damaged natural zones
Elevated
Info. Using the same procedure, drainage network was
degraded forests also digitized. From topogrid command in ArcGis, the
5 Opened areas and Bare soils Very Elevated two thematic maps were used to develop a digital eleva-
tion model (DEM) for the catchment. A toposheet of
1:50.000 was used in the digitalization of both contours
and drainage network. The scanned topographic maps
were geometrically corrected by using ten control points
such as the graticule intersections in terms of geographic
projections into Merchich as datum. The total catchment
area of Laou river basin was delineated considering to-
pographical parameters derived from Digital Elevation
Model and drainage network and then, digitized bound-
ary layer coverage was developed. ArcInfo GIS were
used for generation of various thematic layers namely
contour Soils map, drainage map, land use/land cover
map and other data sets of the study area.
A digitized contour coverage of 10 m interval was de-
veloped from the topographic map. The digitized con-
tours were given ID (identity) number representing con-
tour elevations. The digitized watershed along with con-
tours was topographically built to create the database
table and then, to create a cell size Digital Elevation
Figure 4. Decision tree model: example of the functioning of Model (DEM) of 25 × 25 m pixel unit, considered as
different parameters codes.
basic operational unit for the erosion analysis.
is determined from the intersection of information layers
4.1. Soils
concerning soil types, land cover and slopes’ morpho-
logy. The result, which is the main objectif of this paper, A soil-map for this region was not available, so we had
is to develop a map of erosion sensitivity. to build-up this layer in order to apply the model. Thus,

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A. RAISSOUNI ET AL. 617

we mapped the geology and the geomorphology of the Since geology was not available in digital format, the
land, completing it by field observations and lab-results lithology was determined from different geological maps
on samples taken from different soils and lithological of Chefchaouen [56], Bab Taza [57], Talembote [58] and
units collected at the basin. The result is not a soil-map in Beni Hassan [59] available at 1:50.000 scale. Depending
the strict sense, but a geological map where we assigned on the nature of different rock types, the classification
erodibility factors to the different geological formations. was based on several studies [60,61], but with adaptation
Geomorphology has served us to identify screes and, in to local conditions of the study area.
general, areas likely to be more easily erodible. The lithology of the Laou basin shows strong resis-
tance in the limestone dorsal and the paleozoique forma-
4.1.1. Lithology tions (Sebtides and Ghomarides) and medium in the
The nature of surface materials plays a very important flysch nappes, while high erodibility is expected into
role to identify the areal sensitivities to erosion. Quaternary deposits and alluvium (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Lithological map of the Laou watershed.

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618 A. RAISSOUNI ET AL.

In Table 1, are presented different types of surface ning and digitizing the geomorphological map of the
lithology and their sensitivity to water erosion. region, then a subsequent harmonization of the different
characters was applied.
4.1.2. Geomorphology The geomorphological map shows the presence of
A Geomorphological factor is defined as the way of in- landslides and debris, especially in the river borders, in
volvement of different geological formations morpho- zones close to the dam and in areas with steep slopes
logy in the risk of erodibility, namely: the presence of (Figure 6). The erodibility factor of each litho-soil unit
areas of scree, landslides and some particular morpholo- may then increase or decrease when this layer of infor-
gies of the existing geological formations in the basin. mation is overlapped to the previous one depending on
This information layer was again produced by scan- the essential nature of the geomorphological fields.

Figure 6. Geomorphological map of the Laou watershed.

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A. RAISSOUNI ET AL. 619

4.2. Land Use esses are dependent on further developments;


The canopy state affects largely the soil erodibility. A 2) Permanent cultures: yearly and/or permanent culti-
healthy cover of vegetation assures soil stability, consti- vations, associated to irrigated perimeters;
tuting natural protection against erosion. 3) Agro-forestry zones;
The employed map of the land use was developed by 4) Natural damaged zones: spaces in mutation by the
the Ministry of Environment in 2004. This map, created disappearance of vegetation; these spaces may be sus-
with a list of 33 basic classes, was updated and reclassi- ceptible to erosion on unstable materials because the soil
fied into 10 classes per their different behaviour with can be exposed to very steep slopes;
respect to the erosion processes (Figure 7). 5) Heterogeneous agricultural zones: involve quite dif-
The 10 classes of land use are defined as follow: ferent units but forming contrasting landscape (piecemeal
1) Urbanized areas: those for which the erosion proc- fragmented and diverse mosaic of cultures, alternating

Figure 7. Map of the land use classes.

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620 A. RAISSOUNI ET AL.

meadows, farmland and woods); this diversity is a factor The use of this DEM has allowed us a better gradient
limiting the runoff, compared to open areas such as ar- estimation for steeply marked terrains or for areas with
able land; short hilly slopes. Very important outcomes from this
6) Heath and shrubs: where the landscape is character- basic layer are represented by the extraction of the de-
ized by open low-growing woody vegetation, mostly rivative maps of the slope and length classes, the expo-
consisting of heaths, heathers and related species; sure and the hydrological map.
7) Prairies and grazings: here the land surface has Slope is one of the important factors causing soil ero-
good protection thanks to an encouraged infiltration; sion. A steep rising slope is responsible of increased ero-
8) Humid zones: including areas of open water (seas, sion [53], still it is not always the main factor. Nine ma-
lakes, rivers) and wetlands (marshes and rice fields); jor classes of slopes were distinguished. The length of
9) Opened areas: arable earths without vegetation the slope could not be taken into account in this study.
which can be practically naked during a long period of According to Gay [65] and FAO [66], this parameter
the year. Its regroups also bare rocks, glaciers, dunes and would not have a primary importance in the Mediterra-
beaches; nean regions.
10) Forests and shrubby zones: having little apprecia- The slope map was generated using Triangulated Ir-
ble erosion effects, except on the very steep slopes and regular Network (TIN) developed from contour coverage
the unsteady lands). employing ArcGIS 9.3.
The classification of different modes of land use (Ta- The average slope of each grid unit is calculated, in
ble 2) according to their sensitivity to water erosion has (%), from the difference in altitude with respect to its 8
been established as a result of field observations and neighbours. The slope values were grouped into 8 classes:
consultation of several bibliographical studies [4,62-64]. 0% - 1%; 1% - 2%; 2% - 5%; 5% - 10%; 10% - 15%;
The risk of water erosion is null in dense urban areas 15% - 30%; 30% - 75%; >75% (Figure 8). These
(soil present in small quantities or absent) and on resis- boundaries were selected on the basis of the real field
tant rocks. But in both cases, the transport of water and values and observations and according to what has been
siltation downstream are promoted. referred in the current literature.
The well maintained forests are considered as insus- The slope classes can be reduced to five as like as the
ceptible to water erosion. Indeed, the permanence of other factors and in order to apply the model. In the fol-
vegetation, leaves and branches of trees, absorbs the im- lowing table (Table 3) are represented the five classes of
pact of raindrops. The root system maintains the cohe- sensitivity to erosion attributed to the different slope
sion of the soil and Plant litter, which improves the classes.
structure of the surface horizons of the soil, making them
more permeable to water. 5. Application of the Model
Water erosion is highest in bare soils without protec- Each layer of information is first transformed in raster
tion against water [11]. mode, according to the basic pixel of the DEM to nor-
The basin vegetation allows us to indicate a high malize the different scales of the data sources and thus
erodibility in the non-wooded land and a low one in the obtaining an overall homogeneous cross-spatiality.
forest populated by Mirbeck’s Oak, Holm oak and cork After gridding the thematic maps of parameters in-
oak, which are more resistant to erosion. volved, we have performed the superposition of the in-
formation layers on soils, land cover and terrain, to get
4.3. Surface Morphology the potential sensitivity to erosion per spatial unit.
The digital elevation model (DEM) represents the spatial 5.1. Cartographic Superposition
variation in altitude, A Digital Elevation Model was
produced from the manual digitalization of the contour The digital superposition of these parameters allowed us
lines from the available 1/50.000 scale maps.
The cell size of 25 m was selected and watershed Table 3. Classes of slope and their sensitivity to water ero-
sion.
boundary layer was overlain by the generated grid cov-
erage. All the uniquely identified cells (numbered con- Classes Classes of slope Sensitivity to erosion
secutively from the northwest to southeast corner and 1 0-2 Very weak
proceeding from west to east) with less than 25% of the 2 2-5 Weak
area overlying the watershed were excluded.
3 5 - 15 Average
The obtained DEM (Figure 2) may be considered of
good quality and define the basic pixel unit, common to 4 15 - 30 Elevated
all the information layers. 5 >30 Very elevated

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A. RAISSOUNI ET AL. 621

Figure 8. Slope classes map.

to draw a map of the potential erosivity in the catchment we may assign the potential sensitivity to the erosion of
area of Laou River. Thus, each layer has been subdued to any surface unit, within one of 5 levels.
a change of variable process, which transformed them The obtained results, assessed by a spatial exploration
into a descriptive index of sensitivity. on the different parameters’ layers, show that a severe
The gridding and the superposition of the relevant lay- erosion affects the Southern and North-Western sectors
ers (i.e. slope, land use, lithology and geomorphology), of the basin which are, by the way, represented by very
allowed us to identify those areas at high risk of erosion. damaged and steep slopes. These particular morphologies
The rendered map (Figure 9) outputs qualitative infor- motivate the great sensitivity to erosion, even if they
mation on the distributed sensitivity degree of the on-site present the least erodible lands of the entire basin (for-
soils to be mobilized by the water erosion factors. mations of the calcareous dorsal) and have, as well, a
Thus, by the cumulated effect of these affecting factors, relatively dense plant cover. Other negative factors are

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622 A. RAISSOUNI ET AL.

Figure 9. Potential risk of erosion in the Laou watershed.

represented by the fact that this mountainous range is strategic work, therefore it needs strict procedures of
systematically exposed to torrential precipitations, domi- validation and, if regional structures are involved, the
nant winds and to long periods of harsh solar radiation. establishment of a fairly large scale is required.
In the other zones of the basin, in spite of the presence The validation may be done in two ways:
of less competent soil covers (essentially alluvia, shales  A comparison with other results and/or other data
and flysch) and a much more sparse vegetation, the sen- sources: this is not possible in our case, because simi-
sitivity to the erosion stays from weak to middling, al- lar analyses or data outputs are not available;
lowing thus to conclude that the high gradient and dam-  An examination of the inherent errors due to the em-
aged terrain state represents the main factor of water ero- pirical model.
sion in the Laou Watershed, triggered by the concurring In order to highlight the errors and imprecision intrin-
climatic actions too. sic to the model, another possible consideration would
consist of an analysis of the error propagation during the
5.2. Validation of the Results
various treatments in the geographic information system.
The modelling of the erosion process is an important and This was obtained by estimating the uncertainties for

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A. RAISSOUNI ET AL. 623

each layer of information, and then to evaluate their ac- the catchment area of the Laou River, allowed us to iden-
cumulation within the expert system. tify those arable surfaces which require highest priority
interventions for the protection of soil and, not of least
5.3. Advantages and Problems of the Model importance, the reduction of sediment transportation at
the dams.
Our model has defined a map of sensitivity to erosion
The proposed model aims to treat large spatial fields.
with six classes for a representative watershed in North-
The overall approach proposed can feed the many exist-
ern Morocco, as a first attempt to generalise this study at
ing local experiments, but it raises other issues related to
a regional scale. Such map is unavailable in Morocco,
spatial extrapolation. This latter cannot be based solely
although at this stage the map depends on qualitative and
on local studies. It must take into account the local mul-
relatively subjective procedures. The map represents the
tiple geographies and provide a summary. It must con-
result of modelling from available knowledge and data
sider local circumstances and arrangements of their spa-
and can meet scientific needs of researchers as well as
tial organization. For example, an erosion zone located
socioeconomic demands of decision makers. This model
upstream of an area without erosion has different cones-
can be extrapolated to the whole country if the functional
quences, in the overall geographic approach, as an ero-
capacities of GIS are used, because they allow model
sion zone located downstream of an area without erosion.
integration with additional basic and factorial data and
The method of landscape analysis based on laws can be
code modification in order to analyse the data. At the
attempted [67].
same time, the thematic and derived maps can be updated
In addition, the use of GIS allows the integration at
and evaluated to assure precision before executing the
any time new spatial data and allows the development of
model and obtaining the final map of sensitivity to ero-
small-scale management plans that is sufficient to esti-
sion.
mate the areas vulnerable to water erosion for a political
There is also the need and the possibility of integration
overall protection of these areas.
of new factors in the model, e.g. rock infiltration capacity,
However, it must be noted that detailed field verifica-
the consideration of sedimentation zones, tectonic frag-
tion is still needed to identify the sectors showing inac-
mentation, splash effects, etc. However, that needs a lot
curate results by the model (possibly due to change of
of work and many difficulties will be encountered [28].
state or after intrinsic errors); this phase may also allow
to recognize the eventual sources of error and to continu-
6. Conclusions ally update the database.
In terms of erosion, there are always two risks involved. During the development of the model, the major diffi-
On one hand, there is loss of land, which constitutes a culties has regarded the acquisition of the information
loss of thickness of the soil cover: this is a risk if man needed to implement the database, being soil types the
uses the soil resource for production (crops, forests, etc.) topmost, followed by the height/intensity of rainfall and
or for reserve (water retention, application of sludge, the length of slopes in karstic zones, or very hilly areas.
waste products etc.). On the other hand, the risks due to Nevertheless, the integration of this partial “USLE”
erosion can be designed as a landing ground in various model into a GIS has shown many advantages, especially
places where it is undesirable (urban areas, greenhouses, those related to the results which rise evidence on the
roads, railways or waterways, etc.). In the first case, the local factors involved in the erosion process. GIS allows
risks are mainly located upstream whereas in the second rational management of a multitude of data, with respect
they are downstream. Therefore, we must introduce the to the various factors responsible of land degradation; in
concepts of “upstream/downstream” in relation to the fact, in this case, it permitted us to conclude that the main
risk of “loss/landing” of soils when addressing wide ar- factor in the Laou watershed are the steep and damaged
eas of study [11,26]. slope morphologies, followed by the soil erodibility and
An important tool has been developed, in the form of a the vegetation cover. GIS also allows a rather easy en-
cognitive model which applies simplified rules, qualita- richment and continuous updating of the database.
tive evaluations and parameters ranking. It is a flexible On the other hand, in the absence of an intensive
model that may be rather easily modified during an up- monitoring program, it is generally impossible to recog-
date of the information layers, which allows to obtain an, nize the precision of the estimates obtained by such
as objective as possible synthesis of the erosive phe- no- models. Even if restricted by this adverse situation, we
mena. It permits the choice of different spatial resolu- may say that, by comparison to more localized studies
tions, in order to calibrate the presentation of its results to that were realised in the region or in other parts of the
the needs of decision makers at different scales. Mediterranean, the estimates provided by this model are
The multi-source approach, combining terrain, litho- mostly acceptable and the spatial distribution of the wa-
logy, geomorphology and land use in a GIS, applied to ter erosion risk seems reasonable and fair.

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624 A. RAISSOUNI ET AL.

7. Acknowledgements 295-308. doi:10.1016/S0167-8809(03)00011-2


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