Monitoring on soil erosion and sediment delivery at a typical basin of the middle and lower reaches of the Jialing River by remote sensing

The monitoring work was performed on soil erosion in Lizixi drainage arearespectively in 1986 and 1999 by multiple methods with the information extracted from theLandsat TM imagery and Spot imagery. The variation of erosion quantity in this area iscalculated based on the monitoring result of the erosion intensity and area in these twoyears. The change of sediment delivery is also analyzed. The research result shows thatcompared to 1986, in 1999, the erosion area reduced, especially for the area of moderateintensity and above, and the intensity and quantity of erosion decreased. Compared tothis period from 1965 to 1986, the sediment delivery ratio has been changed from 0.27 to0.11 after 1986. The research result could help the decision-making for further water andsoil conversation work in Lizixi drainage area, and it also offers reference for monitoring, evaluating and predicting soil erosion in other drainage areas.