## 3 Results and Discussion
### RUSLE Model
#### 3.1.6. RUSLE Model  
Soil loss values were calculated by overlaying five grid rasters (a grid raster representing R-factor values, a grid raster representing K-factor values, a grid raster representing LS-factor values, a grid raster representing C-factor values, and a grid raster representing P-factor values). The final maps produced show the spatial distribution of annual soil loss within the study area at 10 m pixel resolution according to each scenario:  
* Scenario 1: A soil loss map was produced with R-factor values derived from satellite data and C-factor values assigned from literature data (Figure 15);
* Scenario 2 and 3: Two soil loss maps were produced with R-factor values derived from satellite data and C-factor values derived from \(NDVI\) (exponential (\(NDVI\)-vk) and linear (\(NDVI\)-r) equation) data (Figures 16 and 17, respectively);
* Scenario 4: A soil loss map was produced with R-factor values derived from satellite data and C-factor values derived from FVC data (Figure 18). Figure 14. P-factor values for Paleochora. Figure 16: Soil loss map produced using R from the Global Precipitation Measurements (GPM) and C from _NDVI_(vk) data. Figure 15: Soil loss map produced using R from the Global Precipitation Measurements (GPM) and C from the literature data. According to scenarios 1, 2, 3, and 4, the maximum estimated soil losses were 417, 704, 614, and 649 t ha\({}^{-1}\) year\({}^{-1}\), with mean values of 2.59, 4.63, 10.01, and 2.41 t ha\({}^{-1}\) year\({}^{-1}\), respectively. The results for the RUSLE model were in relative agreement with previous studies. In fact, at the European level, the mean annual soil loss rate is about 2.46 t ha\({}^{-1}\) [51],  
Figure 17: Soil loss map produced using R from the Global Precipitation Measurements (GPM) and C from _NDVI_(r) data. Figure 18: Soil loss map produced using R from the Global Precipitation Measurements (GPM) and C from _NDVI_-derived Fractional Vegetation Cover(FVC) data. According to the work by [PERSON] et al. [12], the mean annual soil loss rate in Crete was found to be 8.123 t ha\({}^{-1}\) yr\({}^{-1}\). A soil erosion map of the northern central part of Chania, Crete, showed that soil erosion in cultivated areas was commonly greater than soil erosion in uncultivated areas, with a mean annual erosion rate of 4.85 t ha\({}^{-1}\) yr\({}^{-1}\)[50]; however, the variations in the mean values can be explained be the different methods used in extracting the factors and the assessment scale. The spatial distribution of the soil erosion rates was evaluated for different land cover classes, which were mainly agricultural, forest, natural grassland and pasture, shrubland, and sparsely vegetated areas (Table 9 and Figure 19). According to scenario 1, the mean erosion rate for sparsely vegetated areas was the highest, followed by agricultural, natural grassland and pasture, shrubland, and forest areas. According to scenario 2, the mean erosion rate for agricultural areas was the highest, followed by natural grassland and pasture, shrubland, sparsely vegetated, and forest areas. According to scenario 3, the mean erosion rate for sparsely vegetated areas was the lowest and higher values were assigned to natural grassland and pasture, agricultural areas, forest, and shrubland areas. According to scenario 4, the mean erosion rates for sparsely vegetated and forest areas were the lowest and higher values were assigned to shrubland, natural grassland and pasture, and agricultural areas. In their study, [PERSON] et al. [12] estimated the spatial distribution of soil erosion rates per land cover and land use class based on the Corine Land Cover dataset. According to  
Figure 19: Bar diagram showing soil erosion rates in terms of land cover.