Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment

The Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment Project is a fifth framework Research Technology and Development Project funded by the European Union. The PESERA Project resorts under the thematic programme Quality of Life, key action 'support for common agricultural policy'.

1. Introduction and Objectives

Soil erosion poses severe limitations to sustainable agricultural land use, as it reduces on-farm soil productivity and causes the accumulation of sediments and agri-chemicals in waterways. Current models are designed to assess soil erosion at high resolutions, but are not suitable to develop regional soil conservation strategies. Soil erosion indicators developed from a physically based model will not only provide information on the state of soil erosion at any given time, but also assist in understanding the links between different factors causing erosion.

The major objective is to develop, calibrate and validate a physically based and spatially distributed model to quantify soil erosion in a nested strategy of focussing on environmentally sensitive areas relevant to a European scale. Accurate databases will be compiled and upgraded through satellite image processing and computational techniques. The project will concentrate on promoting a robust and flexible model by demonstrating its performance at different resolutions and across agro-ecological zones, and by ensuring its relevance to policy makers through impact assessment and scenario analysis. The model will be designed to handle spatial and temporal data of variable quality and detail. A strong expert and end-user network will be established across Europe.

2. Project scientific structure

3. Partnership and major responsibility

Partner	Logo	Major Responsibility
1		COORDINATOR & WP3: BELGIUM Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology
2		WP1: UK University of Leeds School of Geography
3		WP4: FRANCE Unité de Science du Sol Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
4		WP5: ITALY European Soil Bureau, Environment Institute Joint Research Centre - European Commission
5		WP7: GREECE Agricultural University of Athens
6		WP2: SPAIN Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas - Almeria
7		WP6: THE NETHERLANDS International Soil Reference and Information Centre, Wageningen

4. Project Timetable

5. The PESERA Model

An approach towards Europe-wide soil erosion assessment is the application of a process model that can be used for validation at fine scales, and for Europe-wide forecasting at a coarse scale, so that cross-scale reconciliation is as explicit as possible. The PESERA model produces a quantitative forecast of soil erosion and crop growth, and therefore it has the potential to respond explicitly and rationally to changes in climate or land use, offering great promise for scenario analysis and impact assessment. Set against this advantage, the model can only incorporate the impact of past erosion where this is measured and thus requires numerous and good datasets needed for testing. The model simplifies the set of processes operating and may therefore not be appropriate under particular local circumstances. The PESERA model is in the process of being calibrated and validated at different resolutions.

6. Preliminary Results

A first model version was tested on regional data from France
(map made by joel.daroussin@orleans.inra.fr)

A first run at a Pan-European scale shows preliminary results of monthly soil erosion risk assessment (maps made by Brian Irvine B.Irvine@geography.leeds.ac.uk)

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Information provider: L.E.G.

Reactions for the authors:  Anne Gobin or Gerard Govers

Design: Johan Boon

Last revision: 30 April 2002

URL: http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/geography/frg/leg/projects/pesera/pesera.php