Evaluation of two different soil databases to assess soil erosion sensitivity with MESALES for three areas in Europe and Morocco

- MESALES was applied to three areas in Europe and Morocco to assess erosion sensitivity.
- Two databases were compared: legacy database and newly developed e-SOTER database.
- Expert evaluation indicated that both databases performed equally well.
- Results demonstrate the importance of using the best available input data.
- Results indicate a current lack of options to validate soil erosion sensitivity estimates.

Modelling soil erosion sensitivity at continental scale provides a way to compare different countries and to identify those areas that are most seriously threatened. In this research, the MESALES model was applied to 3 large areas in Europe and Morocco, using soil data from ESDB and DSMW as well as from the newly developed e-SOTER database. Land use data were derived from the Global Land Cover 2000 database, and slope angle from the HYDRO1K DEM. The aim was to evaluate whether the e-SOTER database resulted in better assessment of soil erosion sensitivity than existing data. To judge this, expert opinion was used. The comparison of results obtained with existing data and with e-SOTER data showed considerable differences. However, it proved impossible to say which results were better. The main reasons for that were that MESALES predicts soil erosion sensitivity, which cannot be measured in the field, and that expert judgement of model results proved inconclusive. Another reason can have been that the e-SOTER database is as yet incomplete. The fact that the application of different soil databases resulted in quite different results does, however, indicate the importance of using the best available data for evaluation of soil threats. However, a current lack of options to validate soil erosion sensitivity estimates was also identified.