Evaluation of Wind Erosion Potential Using Empirical Method of IRIFR and GIS: A Case Study of Nishabur, Iran

Erosion is a phenomenon during which soil and sediment materials are 2ransferred by such damaging factors as water and wind. The type of erosion, of course, is different in various climates. As an example, in wet and semi-wet areas water erosion is more likely than wind erosion. In turn, wind erosion is the main reason for damaging and transferring soil and sediment materials in arid and semi-arid zones, which can cover talented lands and bring about indispensable damage to land administrators. Wind erosion in arid zones is one of the most important processes of desertification, which is considered in different forms and in various models. Wind erosion status was investigated using the IRIFR method. In this method, nine parameters affecting wind erosion process including lithology, morphology and relief, wind velocity, soil characteristics, type and plant cover percentage, wind erosion features, soil moisture, type and distribution of sandy dune, land use and land management were considered. Ultimately, wind erosion index was classified in five classes. ArcGIS 9 was used to analyse and prepare the layers of quality maps to integrate the individual sub-indicator maps. Results show those areas classified under moderate category have a greater extent (61%) in the study area while areas under high and very high hazard cover 15% of lands.