INFLUENCE OF LAND USE CHANGE ON SEDIMENT YIELD: A CASE STUDY OF THE SUB-MIDDLE OF THE SÃO Francisco River Basin

ABTSRACT Erosion risk mapping and assessment are important for planning of natural resource management tool. The objective of this study was to simulate different scenarios of land use in the Sub-Middle of the São Francisco River Basin using the Soil and Water Assessment (SWAT) model to analyze the effects of changes in sediment yield, making comparisons with the present land use classification. The scenario analysis was (i) vegetation type characteristic of the semiarid region, (ii) growing corn and (iii) bare soil. For calibration procedure, the first three years of time series from 1993 to...