Estimation of soil erosion is of great importance for ecological protection and erosion control in the major grain producing areas of the North China Plain.Based on geographic information system(GIS)

the revised universal soil loss equation(RUSLE) was employed to assess quantitatively soil erosion in the North China Plain by incorporating the interpreted data from remote sensing images

digital elevation model(DEM)

soil map and rainfall data.Furthermore

the spatial distribution of the soil erosion intensity has been obtained.The results indicated that the annual average soil erosion modulus was 2 674.26 t/(km2·a) with the maximum of 8 302.11 t/(km2·a)

which can be classified as overall moderate according to the national standard.The areas which under the mild range accounted for 82.94% of the study areas

suggesting that the soil loss was under control.Approximately 7.33% of total area was still on the severe range

especially in the rocky mountainous areas along the Taihang Mountains

Yanshan Mountains

Tai Mountains

and Dabie Mountains

the key areas where soil erosion are yet to be controlled.