Assessment of soil erosion in Saray District (Tekirda？) using by RUSLE method

Saray district is located between Y？ld？z Mountains and Ergene District in Marmara Region (NW Turkey). Saray is unique district in the province of Tekirda？ on the Black Sea Coast. The aim of this study is to determine the actual erosion in Saray district using by RUSLE method. In this study, The topographical map with a scale of 1/25 000, geological maps with a scale of 1/100 000 and the maps of bigger soil groups, Earth Explorer 31.10.2016 ETM 7+ satellite pictures and the monthly average precipitation data released by MGM for the towns of Saray, Kapakl？, ？erkezk？y and K？y？k？y are used to determine the existing possible erosional situation in the town of Saray in the province of Tekirda？. The data collected was digitized using ArcGIS and the maps of factors belonging to the slope, the altitude, the rainfall; the soil and the land cover were drawn from these digitized data. The map showing the erosion risk classes was also prepared using map overlay technique in the environment of ArcGIS by taking into account the parameters affecting the erosion. The data showing the distribution of the erosion risk classes were produced by using the feature tables from the obtained maps. As a result, in the Saray district, erosion areas of 5 tones or less per year correspond to 91.54% of the district boundaries with 70 659 ha. The total of areas exposed to more erosion than 5 is 6 530 hectares. The erosion in the study area can be thought to be ineffective. However, the economy of the district is mostly based on agriculture. Therefore, it should be taken into consideration that the loss of soil in intensive cultivation areas leads to significant drop in yield or to excessive fertilizer usage