the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 18 Jan 2023
Mapping land degradation risk due to wind and water erosion
Mahdi Boroughani
Fahimeh Mirchooli
Mojtaba Hadavifar
Stephanie Fiedler
Abstract. Land degradation is a cause of many social, economic, and environmental problems. Therefore identification and monitoring of high-risk areas for land degradation are necessary. Despite the importance of land degradation, the topic receives often relatively little attention. The present study aims to create a land degradation map in terms of soil erosion caused by wind and water erosion of semi-dry land. We focus on the Lut watershed in Iran encompassing the Lut Desert that is influenced by both monsoon rainfalls and dust storms. Dust sources are identified using MODIS satellite images with the help of four different indices to quantify uncertainty. The dust source maps are assessed with three machine learning algorithms encompassing artificial neural network (ANN), random forest (RF), and flexible discriminant analysis (FDA) to map dust sources paired with soil erosion susceptibility due to water. We assess the accuracy of the maps from the machine learning results with the metric Area Under the Curve (AUC) of the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC). The maps for water and aeolian soil erosion are used to identify different classes of land degradation risks. The results show that 43 % of the watershed is prone to land degradation in terms of both aeolian and water erosion. Most regions (45 %) have a risk of water erosion and some regions (7 %) a risk of aeolian erosion. Only a small fraction (4 %) of the total area of the region had a low to very low susceptibility for land degradation. The results of this study underline the risk of land degradation for an inhabited region in Iran. Future work should focus on land degradation associated with soil erosion from water and storms in larger regions to evaluate the risks also elsewhere.
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Notice on discussion status
The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
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Preprint
(1079 KB)
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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
- Preprint
(1079 KB) - Metadata XML
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- Final revised paper
Journal article(s) based on this preprint
Mahdi Boroughani et al.
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1511', Anonymous Referee #1, 26 Jan 2023
The paper entitled "Mapping land degradation risk due to soil erosion by storms and water:
The authors use machine learning to assess wind and water erosion susceptibility in the study region. The article is interesting and has potential. I carefully read the manuscript and it is suitable for publication after minor revision.
- I suggest some literature that can be helpful in this regard. But authors are not bound to cite them in this manuscript:
https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.4380
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2650
- MODIS first time used, abbreviation not explained and no reference
- Lines 77-79: Please state the possible applications of your study
- Please indicate the limitations of this work.
- Dust sources are locations of dust particles where are susceptible to wind erosion. So I think that "wind erosion susceptibility" is more appropriate than dust source susceptibility (DSS).
- What is the outlook or scope of the future research for this work?
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1511-RC1 - AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Mahdi Boroughani, 24 Mar 2023
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1511', Anonymous Referee #2, 15 Feb 2023
The manuscript “Mapping land degradation risk due to win and water erosion” presents an interesting research, with significant data and results. However, I consider that in its present form the manuscript cannot be published and major revisions are needed before a new submission.
- I do not agree with the sentence that land degradation receives little attention. I think that this topic has been widely and worldwide study with different studies, methods
- Lines 32-34. The last sentences of the abstract should be also improved. Why larger area? Is it necessary for land management? These ideas should be better developed.
- In general, I consider that the introduction section should be improved. My suggestion is to present first the topic of land degradation (better developed), second dust-wind erosion, water erosion and finally all the ideas related to the methodology (machine learning…). In addition, the objectives should be improved and I consider that a research hypothesis should be included.
- Likewise, the novelty of the manuscript and the international impact of the methods and results should be highlighted thought the text.
- I consider that lines 88-93 should be moved to the introduction section, as it presents a research problem.
- You should also improve the study area description (altitude, slopes, climate, soils…) a brief presentation of the study area.
- Line 117-127. This information should be better presented. I understand that you indicate a reference where the methods are explained, but the reader of this manuscript should know more about it. More information is needed.
- Figure 3. I think Figure 3 should be separated into several figures.
- Figure 3. Water-induced soil erosion points for training and validation. You should justify the location of these points, as they are limited-spatially.
- Figure 3. Better legends should be included in some cases (rainfall, is it annual rainfall?, lithology?). In addition, the maps distance from roads and rivers present strange information.
- Results, discussion. This section should be also improved, including international studies, comparisons, discussing your main results, your methodology…
- As I suggest in the introduction section, the conclusion section should be also rethought, and improved.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1511-RC2 - AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Mahdi Boroughani, 24 Mar 2023
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RC3: 'Mapping land degradation risk due to wind and water erosion', Anonymous Referee #3, 19 Feb 2023
Dear Editor
The study is about “Mapping land degradation risk due to wind and water erosion”. Principles and methodology are well supported. However, I would like to consider some specific comments below as minor revisions. In general, there are some grammar errors throughout the manuscript. Please check the spellchecking in addition to these minor issues.
- AC3: 'Reply on RC3', Mahdi Boroughani, 24 Mar 2023
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
-
RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1511', Anonymous Referee #1, 26 Jan 2023
The paper entitled "Mapping land degradation risk due to soil erosion by storms and water:
The authors use machine learning to assess wind and water erosion susceptibility in the study region. The article is interesting and has potential. I carefully read the manuscript and it is suitable for publication after minor revision.
- I suggest some literature that can be helpful in this regard. But authors are not bound to cite them in this manuscript:
https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.4380
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2650
- MODIS first time used, abbreviation not explained and no reference
- Lines 77-79: Please state the possible applications of your study
- Please indicate the limitations of this work.
- Dust sources are locations of dust particles where are susceptible to wind erosion. So I think that "wind erosion susceptibility" is more appropriate than dust source susceptibility (DSS).
- What is the outlook or scope of the future research for this work?
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1511-RC1 - AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Mahdi Boroughani, 24 Mar 2023
-
RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1511', Anonymous Referee #2, 15 Feb 2023
The manuscript “Mapping land degradation risk due to win and water erosion” presents an interesting research, with significant data and results. However, I consider that in its present form the manuscript cannot be published and major revisions are needed before a new submission.
- I do not agree with the sentence that land degradation receives little attention. I think that this topic has been widely and worldwide study with different studies, methods
- Lines 32-34. The last sentences of the abstract should be also improved. Why larger area? Is it necessary for land management? These ideas should be better developed.
- In general, I consider that the introduction section should be improved. My suggestion is to present first the topic of land degradation (better developed), second dust-wind erosion, water erosion and finally all the ideas related to the methodology (machine learning…). In addition, the objectives should be improved and I consider that a research hypothesis should be included.
- Likewise, the novelty of the manuscript and the international impact of the methods and results should be highlighted thought the text.
- I consider that lines 88-93 should be moved to the introduction section, as it presents a research problem.
- You should also improve the study area description (altitude, slopes, climate, soils…) a brief presentation of the study area.
- Line 117-127. This information should be better presented. I understand that you indicate a reference where the methods are explained, but the reader of this manuscript should know more about it. More information is needed.
- Figure 3. I think Figure 3 should be separated into several figures.
- Figure 3. Water-induced soil erosion points for training and validation. You should justify the location of these points, as they are limited-spatially.
- Figure 3. Better legends should be included in some cases (rainfall, is it annual rainfall?, lithology?). In addition, the maps distance from roads and rivers present strange information.
- Results, discussion. This section should be also improved, including international studies, comparisons, discussing your main results, your methodology…
- As I suggest in the introduction section, the conclusion section should be also rethought, and improved.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1511-RC2 - AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Mahdi Boroughani, 24 Mar 2023
-
RC3: 'Mapping land degradation risk due to wind and water erosion', Anonymous Referee #3, 19 Feb 2023
Dear Editor
The study is about “Mapping land degradation risk due to wind and water erosion”. Principles and methodology are well supported. However, I would like to consider some specific comments below as minor revisions. In general, there are some grammar errors throughout the manuscript. Please check the spellchecking in addition to these minor issues.
- AC3: 'Reply on RC3', Mahdi Boroughani, 24 Mar 2023
Peer review completion
Journal article(s) based on this preprint
Mahdi Boroughani et al.
Mahdi Boroughani et al.
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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
- Preprint
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