Author(s)

D. Emmanouloudis & M. Kaikis

Abstract

This paper presents a new version of a well-known stochastic model to quantitatively assess drainage basin degradation in order to determine erosion in three torrent basins. This new version, 3D-structured and using G.I.S. for data processing, can provide a quantitative assessment of the degradation of any torrent basin in a very short time. Furthermore, a system to prevent erosion and degradation by means of agricultural and technical forest works is presented; the system was originally designed for these three basins, but it is flexible and easy to adapt to any torrent basin. Keywords: stochastic model, GIS, degradation, 3D Digital Elevation Model. 1 Introduction Drainage basin erosion and degradation is one of the most complex environmental problems worldwide. Thus, it has naturally been the subject of research for many decades in countries representative of all the main climatic types on the planet. The problem is fairly aggravated in the Mediterranean countries, due to their temperature range and other factors (irregularly distributed rainfall, insufficient plant coverage, etc.). In our country, plagued by forest fires in the past decades, it tends to acquire the dimensions of a real disaster for mountainous areas, due to the degradation of the soil it implies.

Keywords

stochastic model, GIS, degradation, 3D Digital Elevation Model.