VNU Journal of Science: Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vol. 35, No. 1 (2019) 10-20<br />
<br />
Review article<br />
<br />
Integrated Geographical Information System (GIS)<br />
and Remote Sensing for Soil Erosion Assessment<br />
by Using Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE): Case Study<br />
in Son La Province<br />
Phan Ba Hoc1,2, Nguyen Quoc Viet1, Pham Anh Hung1,*,<br />
Le Xuan Thai3, Le Sy Chinh4, Nguyen Xuan Hai5<br />
1<br />
<br />
Faculty of Environmetal Sciences,VNU University of Science, 334 Nguyen Trai, Hanoi, Vietnam<br />
2<br />
Centre for Planning and Rural Development No.1,<br />
National Institution for Agricultural Project and Planning<br />
3<br />
Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Transport Technology<br />
4<br />
HongDuc University, 565 Quang Trung, Thanh Hoa, Vietnam<br />
4<br />
Dept. of Environmental Impact Assessment, General Department of Environment, MONRE<br />
Received 12 December 2018<br />
Revised 19 December 2018; Accepted 13 March 2019<br />
Abstract: Son La is a mountainous province in the North of Vietnam with complicated terrain, high<br />
slope, rugged and fragmentation terrain. Mountainous land occupies 92% of the natural area, in<br />
which land with sloping over 15 degree occupies 67% of natural land area, erosion is the main cause<br />
of soil degradation. The result show that, the average soil loss due to erosion in Son La province is<br />
30.04 tons/ha/year. On the level of erosion, soil erosion is very low ( 50 tons/ha/year) accounts for a large proportion with the area and the percentage respectively is<br />
51,223.60 ha, occupying 38.74% of the natural area and 45,424.45 ha accounting for 34.36% of the<br />
natural area. Then there is low level (1-5 tons/ha/year) with an area of 19,462.78 hectares,<br />
accounting for 14.72% of natural area. Moderate (5-10 tons/ha/year) and high (10-50 tons/ha/year)<br />
levels account for a small proportion of 7,488.48 hectares, accounting for 5.66% and 8,611.23 hectares,<br />
accounting for 6.51%, respectively, of the natural area. The combination of remote sensing, geographic<br />
information system and RUSLE with available data can calculate soil erosion, spatial distribution and<br />
area, initial testing of the model results and actual observation shows the disparity low (