Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University,
2
Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University
3
Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University
Abstract
Effective watershed management is crucial for mitigating natural hazards and necessitates the evaluation and prioritization of sub-watersheds. This study prioritizes the sub-watersheds of the Anjerd watershed in East Azerbaijan Province for soil and water conservation interventions through morphometric parameter analysis. Given the lack of high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data for the study area, topographic maps at a 1:25,000 scale were utilized to generate a digital elevation model and conduct morphometric analysis. Fifteen morphometric parameters influencing flood risk, erosion, and sedimentation were extracted, including drainage density, bifurcation ratio, stream frequency, drainage texture ratio, length of overland flow, circularity ratio, form factor, elongation ratio, compactness coefficient, infiltration number, maintenance coefficient, mean slope, ruggedness number, relative relief ratio, and hypsometric integral. Each sub-basin was ranked from 1 to 11 based on individual morphometric parameter values, and an average ranking was used to determine overall prioritization. To refine the analysis and reduce dimensionality, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed, effectively narrowing the parameters to six key indices: drainage density, circularity ratio, bifurcation ratio, stream frequency, compactness coefficient, and hypsometric integral. The prioritization results obtained from all 15 parameters aligned with those derived from the key indices, validating the effectiveness of PCA in sub-basin prioritization. According to the prioritization outcomes, sub-basin A1-4 exhibited the highest priority for management interventions due to its lowest average rank, whereas sub-basin A5 had the lowest priority. These findings provide a strategic basis for decision-making, aiming to reduce sediment inflow into the Emarat Dam reservoir and mitigate flood-related damage.
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