Sediment yield estimation using GIS

A method has been developed in the present study for the determination of the sediment yield from a catchment using a GIS. The method involves spatial disaggregation of the catchment into cells having uniform soil erosion characteristics. The surface erosion from each of the discretized cells is routed to the catchment outlet using the concept of sediment delivery ratio, which is defined as a function of the area of a cell covered by forest. The sediment yield of the catchment is defined as the sum of the sediments delivered by each of the cells. The spatial discretization of the catchment and the derivation of the physical parameters related to erosion in the cells are performed through a GIS technique using the Integrated Land and Water Information Systems (ILWIS) package.