A GIS-based Simulation and Visualization Tool for the Assessment of Gully Erosion Processes

Gully erosion is known to affect soil productivity, limit land use, and to pose threats on infrastructure in many parts of the world. Gully erosion has been largely neglected because it is difficult to model and visualize its effects. Many gullies grow rapidly to large sizes, making effective control technically difficult and often too expensive. To assess the susceptibility of soils and substrates to gully erosion, the triggering factors must be identified and analyzed. For this study, a simulation of gully development over time was implemented in Python based on the topographic characteristics of the test watershed, soil properties, and measured runoff. The full simulation GIS was tested on a gully in the KwaThunzi region, South Africa. The results are very promising and allow a 2D/3D visualization of the time series of gully evolution.