[Studying of Soil Water Erosion in Sheikh Bader (Tartous Gouvernat) using the GeoWEPP model]

The water erosion of the soil is a major factor of the land degradation factors in the coastal cliffs in Syria, and it represents a threat to soil, water, plants and the environment in the long run, where it gets the loss amounts importance of nutrients and organic matter in the surface layer of the soil and then deposited in the end on the roads, wells and waterways. For a reduction from the problem requires the knowledge about the water erosion rates and an understanding of the factors (the characteristics of each of the soil and the plant, climate and topography) and mechanical and hydrological processes that lead to the soil erosion, and there is a need to understand the interaction between these factors and processes together that cause soil loss, and understand Erosion phenomenon is not easy in natural conditions especially if the region is complex from where Soil, topography, and multi vegetation cover as like the Syrian coastal conditions so this study came to shed light on an important side from the soil conservation sides, it is the water erosion, from through GeoWEPP model application that works within an program arcGIS to studying of water erosion of the soil in the Sheikh Badr Region-Tartous, and Which have been chosen it on the basis of previous studies conducted on the Syrian coast (COLD, 2004),in this study collected the necessary data (Climatic, soil, landuse Data , soil, landuse Maps, Digital Elevation Model Map, satellite image to the Sheikh Badr Region ) to run the GeoWEPP Model and then data processing and homogenized with each other to be made the annual simulation to the water erosion using the GeoWEPP Model, the results showed that the most area prone to erosion are the south-east and north-west of the study area which called the unstable regions and representing 38% of the total area according to the COLD report(2004). The simulation results showed that the amount of soil loss in the some areas is high about 35.1 t /ha /yr and in the areas other is low up to 0.8 t /ha /yr, and that the most vulnerable areas the drift is the south and north-western region of the study Region, which was called the unstable regions and representing 38% from the area total as stated in the report CoLD (2004), as the results proved the efficiency and effectiveness of the GeoWEPP Model in studying of water erosion of the soil for soil & water conservation in the study Region are particular, and the Syrian coast in general.