{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]],"date-time":"2026-04-15T13:27:45Z","timestamp":1776259665398,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,28]],"date-time":"2020-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1601251200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Water Union of Pinios dam, Ilia Regional Unit, Greece","award":["80302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["80302"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJGI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In recent decades, wildfires have become a serious threat worldwide, producing disasters in the natural and anthropogenic environment as well as serious economic losses. One of wildfire\u2019s major impacts is soil erosion, as it may cause major problems in both the physical and anthropogenic environment and seriously affect the landscape. This study investigates the soil erosion rate changes in areas affected by wildfires and uses, as a pilot area, the drainage basin of the Pinios earth-filled dam located in the Ilia Regional Unit, western Greece, which has suffered serious erosion changes after a wildfire event. For this purpose, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) is applied in GIS software, and the soil erosion rate changes in the selected investigation area are estimated at different time intervals. Specifically, soil erosion rate changes are calculated by importing the factors from the RUSLE equation in the GIS software and uses as a dependent variable the cover management factor C, which is strongly influenced by large destructive fires. The models that are produced are compared with each other by collating average annual soil erosion maps and rates before the fire, immediately after the fire and for the existing conditions occurring in the pilot area.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi9100562","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,28]],"date-time":"2020-09-28T20:03:02Z","timestamp":1601323382000},"page":"562","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":32,"title":["Estimating Soil Erosion Rate Changes in Areas Affected by Wildfires"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3474-5468","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nikolaos","family":"Depountis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geology, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9892-9082","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Michalopoulou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geology, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece"}]},{"given":"Katerina","family":"Kavoura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geology, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1028-9541","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantinos","family":"Nikolakopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geology, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece"}]},{"given":"Nikolaos","family":"Sabatakakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geology, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2019, November 15). EC PESETA II Project: Projection of the Economic Impact of Climate Change in Sectors of the European Union Based on Bottom-Up Analysis. Available online: https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/jrc\/en\/peseta."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2018.04.029","article-title":"Predicting the effectiveness of different mulching techniques in reducing post-fire runoff and erosion at plot scale with the RUSLE, MMF and PESERA models","volume":"165","author":"Vieira","year":"2018","journal-title":"Environ. Res."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1002\/ldr.896","article-title":"Wildfire effects on soil erodibility of woodlands in NW Spain","volume":"21","author":"Varela","year":"2010","journal-title":"Land Degrad. Dev."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1016\/j.earscirev.2013.03.004","article-title":"Current research issues related to post-wildfire runoff and erosion processes","volume":"122","author":"Moody","year":"2013","journal-title":"Earth Sci. Rev."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Prendergast, A.G. (1983). Aspects and problems of soil erosion hazard in the EEC countries. Soil Erosion, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Commission of the European Communities: Report No. EUR 8427 EN.1983."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Robichaud, R.P., and Cerd\u00e0, A. (2009). Summary and Remarks. Chapter 21: Fire Effects on Soils and Restoration Strategies, Science Publishers.","DOI":"10.1201\/9781439843338-c21"},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Wischmeier, W.H., and Smith, D.D. (1965). Predicting Rainfall-Erosion Losses from Cropland East of the Rocky Mountains, Agriculture Handbook No. 282."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Wischmeier, W.H., and Smith, D.D. (1978). Predicting Rainfall Erosion Losses, a Guide to Conservation Planning, Agriculture Handbook No. 537."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"118","article-title":"Estimating the soil loss equation\u2019s cover and management factor for undisturbed area","volume":"Volume 40","author":"Wischmeier","year":"1975","journal-title":"Present and Prospective Technology for Predicting Sediment Yields and Sources"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1667","DOI":"10.2136\/sssaj1998.03615995006200060026x","article-title":"USLE-M: Empirical modelling rainfall erosion through runoff and sediment concentration","volume":"62","author":"Kinnell","year":"1998","journal-title":"Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"30","article-title":"Revised universal soil loss equation","volume":"46","author":"Renard","year":"1991","journal-title":"J. Soil Water Conserv."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1016\/0022-1694(94)90110-4","article-title":"Using Monthly Precipitation Data to Estimate the R Factor in the Revised USLE","volume":"157","author":"Renard","year":"1994","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Renard, K.G., Foster, G.R., Weesies, G.A., McCool, D.K., and Yoder, D.C. (1997). Predicting Soil Erosion by Water: A Guide to Conservation Planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), Agriculture Handbook, No.703. USDA-ARS."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.1097\/SS.0b013e3181a4bf50","article-title":"Predicting Soil Erosion with RUSLE in Mediterranean Agricultural Systems at Catchment Scale","volume":"174","author":"Navas","year":"2009","journal-title":"Soil Sci."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"527","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1096-9837(199806)23:6<527::AID-ESP868>3.0.CO;2-5","article-title":"The European Soil Erosion Model (EUROSEM): A dynamic approach for predicting sediment transport from fields and small catchments","volume":"23","author":"Morgan","year":"1998","journal-title":"Earth Surf. Process. Landf."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"579","DOI":"10.1002\/esp.1347","article-title":"Soil erosion modelling with EUROSEM at Embori and Mukogodo catchments, Kenya","volume":"35","author":"Mati","year":"2006","journal-title":"Earth Surf. Process. Landf."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Kirkby, M., Gobin, A., and Irvine, B. (2003). Pan European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment. Deliverable 5: PESERA Model Strategy, Land Use and Vegetation Growth, European Soil Bureau. Available online: http:\/\/eusoils.jrc.it\/."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1293","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2389.2008.01072.x","article-title":"The PESERA coarse scale erosion model for Europe. Model rationale and implementation","volume":"59","author":"Kirkby","year":"2008","journal-title":"Eur. J. Soil Sci."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosres.2013.02.013","article-title":"Integrated use of remote sensing, GIS and precipitation data for the assessment of soil erosion rate in the catchment area of \u201cYialias\u201d in Cyprus","volume":"131","author":"Alexakis","year":"2013","journal-title":"Atmos. Res."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1016\/j.catena.2013.10.007","article-title":"Modeling soil erosion and river sediment yield for an intermountain drainage basin of the Central Apennines, Italy","volume":"114","author":"Borrelli","year":"2014","journal-title":"CATENA"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1016\/j.iswcr.2018.12.002","article-title":"The assessment of water-borne erosion at catchment level using GIS-based RUSLE and remote sensing: A review","volume":"7","author":"Phinzi","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. Soil Water Conserv. Res."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1253","DOI":"10.1623\/hysj.52.6.1253","article-title":"Modelling the effects of a bushfire on erosion in a Mediterranean basin\/Mod\u00e9lisation des impacts d\u2019un incendie sur l\u2019\u00e9rosion dans un bassin M\u00e9diterran\u00e9en","volume":"52","author":"Ferro","year":"2007","journal-title":"Hydrol. Sci. J."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"58","DOI":"10.1002\/ldr.965","article-title":"Assessing soil erosion after fire and rehabilitation treatments in NW Spain: Performance of rusle and revised Morgan\u2013Morgan\u2013Finney models","volume":"21","author":"Fernandez","year":"2010","journal-title":"Land Degrad. Dev."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2323","DOI":"10.5194\/hess-17-2323-2013","article-title":"Modeling post-fire water erosion mitigation strategies","volume":"17","author":"Rulli","year":"2013","journal-title":"Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.catena.2019.104320","article-title":"Fire severity and soil erosion susceptibility mapping using multi-temporal Earth Observation data: The case of Mati fatal wildfire in Eastern Attica, Greece","volume":"187","author":"Efthimiou","year":"2020","journal-title":"CATENA"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"40","DOI":"10.1016\/j.geoderma.2012.01.001","article-title":"Mitigating land degradation caused by wildfire: Application of the PESERA model to fire-affected sites in central Portugal","volume":"191","author":"Esteves","year":"2012","journal-title":"Geoderma"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1016\/j.geoderma.2015.06.025","article-title":"Erosion rate predictions from PESERA and RUSLE at a Mediterranean site before and after a wildfire: Comparison & implications","volume":"261","author":"Karamesouti","year":"2016","journal-title":"Geoderma"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2018.04.008","article-title":"Evaluation of the rusle and disturbed wepp erosion models for predicting soil loss in the first year after wildfire in NW Spain","volume":"165","author":"Fernandez","year":"2018","journal-title":"Environ. Res."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"865","article-title":"Evaluation of greek post-fire erosion mitigation policy through spatial analysis","volume":"18","author":"Myronidis","year":"2009","journal-title":"Pol. J. Environ. Stud."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gloplacha.2009.03.013","article-title":"The exceptionally hot summer of 2007 in Athens, Greece\u2014A typical summer in the future climate?","volume":"67","author":"Founda","year":"2009","journal-title":"Glob. Planet. Chang."},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"457","article-title":"Soil erosion prediction at the water reservoir\u2019s basin of Pineios dam, Western Greece, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and GIS","volume":"14","author":"Depountis","year":"2018","journal-title":"WSEAS Trans. Environ. Dev."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"Lal, R., and Soil and Water Conservation Society (U.S.) (1994). Soil Erosion: Research Methods, St. Lucie Press. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fournier, F. (1960). Climat et Erosion, Presses Universitaires de France.","DOI":"10.1097\/00010694-196108000-00029"},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"39","article-title":"Methodology used to determine the maximum potential average annual soil loss due to sheet and rill erosion in Morocco","volume":"34","author":"Arnoldus","year":"1977","journal-title":"FAO Soil Bull."},{"key":"ref_35","first-page":"355","article-title":"Conversion of the Universal Soil Loss Equation to SI metric units","volume":"36","author":"Foster","year":"1981","journal-title":"J. Soil Water Conserv."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1294","DOI":"10.2136\/sssaj1986.03615995005000050042x","article-title":"Physical basis of the length-slope factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation","volume":"50","author":"Moore","year":"1986","journal-title":"Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J."},{"key":"ref_37","first-page":"423","article-title":"Length-slope factors for the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation: Simplified method of estimation","volume":"4","author":"Moore","year":"1992","journal-title":"J. Soil Water Conserv."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Harmon, R.S., and Doe, W.W. (2001). Multiscale soil erosion simulations for land use management. Landscape Erosion and Evolution Modeling, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4615-0575-4"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"154","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-1694(00)00229-8","article-title":"Error in a USGS 30-m digital elevation model and its impact on terrain modeling","volume":"233","author":"Holmes","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.5194\/isprs-archives-XLII-5-315-2018","article-title":"Effect of DEM resolution on LS factor computation","volume":"XLII-5","author":"Raj","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spat. Inf. Sci"},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Khosrowpanah, S., Heitz, L., Wen, Y., and Park, M. (2007). Developing a GIS-based Soil Erosion Potential Model of the Ugum Watershed, Water Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacfic, University of Guam. Technical Report No. 117."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"368","DOI":"10.1016\/j.catena.2011.07.003","article-title":"Effects of DEM horizontal resolution and methods on calculating the slope length factor in gently rolling landscapes","volume":"87","author":"Liu","year":"2011","journal-title":"CATENA"},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"Morgan, R.P.C. (2005). Soil Erosion and Conservation, Blackwell Publishing Co.. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"Van der Knijff, J.M., Jones, R.J.A., and Montanarella, L. (2000). Soil Erosion Risk Assessment in Europe, JRC Scientific and Technical Report\u2014EUR 19022 EN, European Soil Bureau, European Commission."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pham, T.G., Degener, J., and Kappas, M. (2018). Integrated universal soil loss equation (USLE) and Geographical Information System (GIS) for soil erosion estimation in A Sap basin: Central Vietnam. Int. Soil Water Conserv. Res., 6.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.iswcr.2018.01.001"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1016\/j.geomorph.2006.12.027","article-title":"The response of soil erosion and sediment export to land-use change in four areas of Europe: The importance of landscape pattern","volume":"98","author":"Bakker","year":"2008","journal-title":"Geomorphology"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e14","DOI":"10.4081\/ija.2011.e14","article-title":"Geospatial and visual modeling for exploring sediment source areas across the Sele river landscape, Italy","volume":"6","author":"Diodato","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ital. J. Agron."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landusepol.2015.05.021","article-title":"Estimating the soil erosion cover-management factor at the European scale. The new assessment of soil loss by water erosion in Europe","volume":"48","author":"Panagos","year":"2015","journal-title":"Land Use Policy"},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"Xanthakis, M. (2011). Soil Erosion Study at Mountainous Basin of Marathon\u2019s Lake, Attica Greece, Using Modern Technological Tools. [Ph.D. Thesis, Harokopio Panepistimio of Athens]."},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"Vidali, M. (2013). Estimation of Soil Erosion Model in the Reservoir of the Pinios Dam of Ilia Prefecture. [Master\u2019s Thesis, University of Patras]."},{"key":"ref_51","unstructured":"Dregne, H.E., and Willis, W.O. (1983). Soil conservation: Principles of erosion by water. Dryland Agriculture, American Society of Agronomy."},{"key":"ref_52","unstructured":"Shin, G.J. (1999). The Analysis of Soil Erosion Analysis in the Watershed Using GIS. [Ph.D. Thesis, Gang-won National University]."}],"container-title":["ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/9\/10\/562\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T10:14:38Z","timestamp":1760177678000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/9\/10\/562"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,28]]},"references-count":52,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,10]]}},"alternative-id":["ijgi9100562"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijgi9100562","relation":{},"ISSN":["2220-9964"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2220-9964","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,28]]}}}