Overview of the most important models for the soil loss assessment due to water erosion

The main factor of land degradation is water erosion, it endanger the pedological cover, which is a major natural resource. The time required for data collection, as well as the high cost of research, is the difficulty in estimation of water erosion by conventional methods. However, these problems can be overcome by the use of predictive models and the use of new technologies. The usage of these models requires the application of GIS and GIS-based procedures for determining factors of erosion and erosion prediction at the point or grid level. For these reasons, as a new methodological approaches are recommended USLE and PESERA, by the side of Ministry of Natural Resources, Mining and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Serbia, inside the document "Regulation on the national list of environmental indicators" ("Official gazette" of the Republic of Serbia, no. 37/2011, Clause 1).