Soil erosion in Iceland
What is happening
Why it matters
What is happening?
Soil erosion is the deterioration and displacement of the upper layer of the ground, or soil. This can lead coastal areas to disappear in the sea, or inland vegetated areas to become deserts, for example.
What causes soil erosion
Soil erosion happens when ground is left exposed to the air, primarily when vegetation disappears. This can be caused by human activity, cattle grazing, or climate change impacts such as melting permafrost and shorter growing seasons. Without roots to stabilize the soil, it is left vulnerable to frost due to the cold Icelandic conditions. Frost causes the ground to be deformed, further exposing it to strong winds, hard rains, and flowing water. These elements are responsible for degrading the soil and removing particles.
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Where is it happening?
Climate change is happening all over Iceland, but in different ways and with different severity. Here are some examples:
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In Seyðisfjörður, East Iceland, heavy rains associated with melting permafrost resulted in dangerous landslides in December 2020 that destroyed several buildings in the town center,
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In Hólasandur, North East Iceland, overgrazing led to the loss of vegetation cover, which caused a 130km desert of black sand to form in the last hundred years.
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In Skaftá, South Iceland, huge glacial floods happen every one to two years. These floods have been worsening in the past decades, with the worst flood on record happening in 2015. They cause immense destruction, and can erode up to 4 meters of soil in two weeks.
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How to prevent soil erosion
The processes that lead to soil erosion can happen very slowly, but once the erosion starts, it can go very fast. It is impossible to get back the soil that was lost, and restoration is difficult, so the best course of action is prevention. Effective prevention actions include:
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Preventing utilization of soil such as grazing or mining
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Reforestation
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Restoration of wetland and heath vegetation
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Avoiding monoculture (growing only one plant over a huge area)
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Promoting permaculture (growing multiple crops at the same time that keep the soil healthy and stable)
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How to prevent Soil Erosion
While there are a few already used ways of preventing soil erosion, like planting flowers, there still hasn't been a way to predict where soil erosion is happening.
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Monitoring of changes in soil is one of the first preventions one can take.
Using Lights Spectrum, we are able to measure the amount of soil erosion happening per area.
Why monitor erosion?
The best way to prevent erosion is to know where the processes that lead to it are starting to take place. Monitoring erosion manually by doing field work takes a long time, costs a lot of money, and cannot be done frequently. By using space data, we can assess erosion risk continually and in a financially efficient way to help the soil preservation experts who need to know what areas they should focus on for prevention and restoration.
