Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles (Sep 2018)

Studying the influence of livestock pressure on gully erosion in rangelands of SW Spain by means of the UAV+SfM workflow

  • Álvaro Gómez Gutiérrez,
  • Susanne Schnabel,
  • Francisco Lavado Contador,
  • José Juan de Sanjosé,
  • Alan D. J. Atkinson,
  • Manuel Pulido Fernández,
  • Manuel Sánchez Fernández

DOI
https://doi.org/10.21138/bage.2712
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 0, no. 78
pp. 66 – 88

Abstract

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Gully erosion in agrosilvopastoral systems of SW Spain represents a common degradation process, but has been hardly analysed. The suitability of using the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Structure from Motion photogrammetry (SfM) workflow to map small valley-bottom gullies in these landscapes was tested. The results showed centimetre-level accuracy. Observed strengths and limitations of the UAV+SfM workflow in the study areas are discussed. The resulting cartography allowed mapping soil erosion forms at outstanding spatial scales. All study areas showed evidences of degradation.