Behavior Measurement of Morphological and Fractal Parameters of Watershed on Runoff and Sediment Components

Document Type : Research

Authors

1 Professor, Faculty of Natural Resources, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

2 Graduated in Watershed Management Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

3 Assisstant Professor, Faculty of Mathematic, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

4 Former Ph.D. Student, Department of Watershed Management Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University

5 Ph.D. in Water Sciences and Engineering, Urmia University

10.22092/wmrj.2023.362706.1546

Abstract

Introduction and Goal
Understanding the role and influencing factors of soil erosion is crucial for effective management and recognition of erodible land areas. Watershed management is one of the most sensitive and complex types of resource and production management. The fractal dimension can be used to examine the complexity of data and simplify complex natural phenomena. This tool enables generating fractal patterns to assess the morphological behavior and power of watersheds. This research focused on the connection and interplay between the morphological characteristics of the watershed and the fractal dimension in the creation of runoff and sediment.
Materials and Methods
In this research, the necessary data were obtained from the statistics of the country in the water measuring and observation stations of the watershed. The base maps were utilized to determine the watershed characteristics. The calculation of the fractal characteristics was done in Fractalyse 2.4 software by utilizing the box counting method. The factor analysis method was used to identify 85 features related to watershed. In this research, for further analysis, the size of annual runoff and sediment was investigated using different return periods. Therefore, 5 different scenarios were considered based on the homogeneity of the watershed, climatic characteristics, physical and morphological characteristics of the watershed, physical and climatic characteristics simultaneously, and fractal characteristics of the watershed. The correlation between estimated irrigation and sediment size (with different return periods) and different morphological features was also carried out.
Results and Discussion
The results of the factor analysis technique showed that among the 85 parameters related to the watershed, 18 are the effective parameters of the area, the slope area is 8-12 and 12-20%, the area of the east slope in 9 directions, the length of the 100-m level lines in the watershed, the total length of the stream , the concentration time base Kirpich method, elevation difference, fractal of 200-m level lines, deviation from the moisture standard, temperature difference, average slope, net slope of the main stream, average temperature, average moisture, average precipitation, elongation coefficient and fractal of the basin environment. Also, the fractal dimension of the 200-m horizontal lines and the fractal dimension of the watershed environment were able to significantly explain the overall changes in discharge and sedimentation. This finding explained well the role of fractal characteristics in the relationship between irrigation and sedimentation.
Conclusions and Suggestion
Based on the results of this research, it was found that almost all the effective factors in estimating discharge and sedimentation in large watersheds are summarized in the area and fractal of the watershed environment, and these two features justify the most changes in discharge and sedimentation. Therefore, with the reduction of the area of ​​watersheds, the role of other factors such as the direction of the slope, the net slope of the waterway, etc., is more evident in explaining the changes, and it can be said that dividing large watersheds into smaller watersheds is the best measure to control the erosion and runoff of watersheds. Implementing watershed management measures in these small sub-watersheds is the next step. The reduction of watershed area in most relationships is sufficient to justify up to 70% of sediment changes. This research findings should be utilized by users and beneficiaries to implement watershed development and management programs.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Alimoradi M, Ekhtesasi M, Tazeh M, Karimi H. 2021. The relation of fractal dimension with discharge and sediment indices in Ilam Watershed. Quantitative Geomorphological Research, 10(3):19-39.(In Persion). doi.org/10.22059/JPHGR.2018.234333.1007060.
Alimoradi M, Ekhtesasi MR, Tazeh M. Karimi H. 2018. Calculation of fractal dimension of the geological formations and their relationship to the formation sensibility. Physical Geography Research Quarterly, 50(2):241- 253. (In Persion).
Barzegari V, Zare M, Ekhtasasi M. 2020. Comparison of dimensionless drainage network density and fractal dimensions in separating of lithological units (Case study: Taft Watershed, Yazd). Quantitative Geomorphological Research, 8(3):80-96. (In Persion).
Burrough PA. 1983. Multiscale sources of spatial variation in soil I. The application of fractal concepts to nested levels of soil variation. Journal of Soil Science, 34(3):577-597. (In Persion).
Cao M, Zhang H. 2023. Fractal characteristics of particle groups and mechanochemical effects of Yellow River sediment after mechanical grinding. Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials, pp. 1-12. doi.org/10.1080/21650373.2023.2218841.
Caraballo MA, Macías F, Nieto JM, Ayora C. 2016. Long term fluctuations of groundwater mine pollution in a sulfide mining district with dry Mediterranean climate: implications for water resources management and remediation. Science of the Total Environment, 539:427-435. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.08.156.
Cerdà A, Novara A, Moradi E. 2021. Long-term non-sustainable soil erosion rates and soil compaction in drip-irrigated citrus plantation in Eastern Iberian Peninsula. Science of the Total Environment, 787:147549. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147549.
Chen C, Zhao G, Zhang Y, Bai Y, Tian P, Mu X, Tian X. 2023. Linkages between soil erosion and long-term changes of landscape pattern in a small watershed on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Catena, 220:106659. doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2022.106659.
Cosco C, Gómez M, Russo B, Tellez-Alvarez J, Macchione F, Costabile P, Costanzo C. 2020. Discharge coefficients for specific grated inlets. Influence of the Froude number. Urban Water Journal, 17(7):656-668. doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2020.1811881.
Dai J, Zhang J, Zhang Z, Jia L, Xu H, Wang Y. 2021. Effects of water discharge rate and slope gradient on runoff and sediment yield related to tillage erosion. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 67(6):849-861. doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2020.1766676.
Diaconu D, Drăghici CC, Pintilii RD, Peptenatu D, Grecu A. 2016. Management of the protection forest areas in region affected by aridity in Oltenia Southwestern development region (Romania), 16th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference-SGEM, Vienna, Austria, pp.  477-483.
Diaconu DC, Andronache I, Ahammer H, Ciobotaru AM, Zelenakova M, Dinescu R, VasilieviciPozdnyakov A, Chupikova S. A. 2017. Fractal drainage modele a new approach to determinate the complexity of watershed. Acta Montanistica Slovaca, 22(1):12-21.
Dimri VP, Ravi Prakash M, Chamoli A. 2009. Seismicity of doon valley, north west Himalaya, India: A Fractal Approach. EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts. 11p.
García‐Serrana M, Gulliver JS, Nieber JL. 2018. Description of soil micro‐topography and fractional wetted area under runoff using fractal dimensions. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 43(13):2685-2697. doi.org/10.1002/esp.4424.
Hadley RF, Lal R, Onstad CA, Walling DE, Yair A. 1985. Recent developments in erosion and sediment yield studies, UNESCO, Paris, 127 p.
Hirpa FA, Gebremichael M, Over TM. 2010. River flow fluctuation analysis: Effect of watershed area. Water Resources Research, 46(12): 1-15. doi.org/10.1029/2009WR009000.
Ibanez DM, de Miranda FP, Riccomini C. 2014. Geomorphometric pattern recognition of SRTM data applied to the tectonic interpretation of the Amazonian landscape. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 87:192-204. doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2013.10.014.
Islam MN, Sivakumar B. 2002. Characterization and prediction of runoff dynamics: A nonlinear dynamical view. Advances in Water Resources, 25(2):179-190. doi.org/10.1016/S0309-1708(01)00053-7.
Izadbakhsh M, Eslamian S, Mosavi S. 2001. Maximum-daily mean-discharge predicting models using physiographic characteristics of catchments in some western Iran watersheds. Journal of Science and Technology of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 5(2):1-13. (In Persion).
Kabo-Bah KJ, Guoan T, Yang X. Na, J, Xiong L. 2021. Erosion potential mapping using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fractal dimension. Heliyon, 7(6):e07125. doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07125.
Khanbabaei Z, Karam A, Rostamizad G. 2013. Studying relationships between the fractal dimension of the drainage basins and some of their geomorphological characteristics. International Journal of Geosciences, 4(3):1-18. (In Persion). doi:10.4236/ijg.2013.43058
Khosravi A, Sepehr A, Abdollahzadeh Z. 2017. Fractal behavior and its relationship with hydromorphometric characteristics over catchments of Binaloud northern hillslopes. Hydrogeomorphology, 3(9):1-20. (In Persion).
Lim M, Kartiwa A, Napitupulu H. 2023. Estimation of citarum watershed boundary’s length based on Fractal’s power law by the modified Box-Counting dimension algorithm. Mathematics, 11(2):384-395. doi.org/10.3390/math11020384.
Lin GF, Wang ChM. 2006. Performing cluster analysis and discrimination analysis of hydrological factors in one step. Advances in Water Resources, 29(11):1573-1585. doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2005.11.008.
Mahmoudinia I, Soleimanimehr H, Maghsoudpour A, Etemadi Haghighi S. 2021. Fractal-based analysis of the influence of current intensity on surface hardness and surface roughness of Steel workpiece in Electrical Discharge process. Iranian Journal of Manufacturing Engineering, 7(11):21-33.
Mahmoudzadeh A. 2004. Research methods in soil erosion, Urmia University Press. (In Persion).
Mandelbrot B. B. 1982. The Fractal geometry of nature. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco. USA. 1:25-74.
Mandelbrot BB. 1983. The fractal geometry of nature. Revised and enlarged edition, New York, WH Free. Co, 495, 1.
Men B, Xiejing Z, Liang C. 2004. Chaotic analysis on monthly precipitation on hills region in middle Sichuan of China. Nature and Science, 2(2):45-51.
Mohammadi Khoshoui M, Ekhtesasi MR. 2019. Comparison of fractal dimension and geomorphologic characteristics in the management of Aqda Basin. Environmental Erosion Research Journal, 9(1):62-84. (In Persion). doi.org/20.1001.1.22517812.1398.9.1.6.0.
Mohammadi M, Ekhtesasi MR, Talebi A, Hosseini Z. 2020. Investigation of the relationship between fractal dimensions of the drainage networks and their morphometric properties (Case study, Yazd-Ardakan Basin). Journal of Arid Biome, 9(2):1-16. (In Persion). doi.org/20.1001.1.2008790.1398.9.2.1.7
Motamedi R, Azari M. 2018. The relationship between geomorphic characteristics and watershed sediment yield: A case of selected subwatersheds of Khorasan Razavi. Environmental Erosion Research Journal, 7(4):82-101. (In Persion). doi.org/20.1001.1.22517812.1396.7.4.5.1
Movahed MS, Hermanis E. 2008. Fractal analysis of river flow fluctuations. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 387(4):915-932. (In Persion).
Mukhopadhyay A, Barman TK, Sahoo P, Davim JP. 2019. Modeling and optimization of fractal dimension in wire electrical discharge machining of EN 31 steel using the ANN-GA approach. Materials, 12(3):454. doi.org/10.3390/ma12030454.
Nosrati K, Hoseinzadeh MM, Imeni S. 2017. Application of principal component analysis in determination of effective factors on runoff generating. Geographical Planning of Space, 7(24):61-71. (In Persion).
Paun MA, Nichita MV, Paun VA, Paun VP. 2023. Fifth‐generation fractal antenna design based on the Koch S nowflake geometry. A fractal theory application. Expert Systems, e13242. doi.org/10.1111/exsy.13242.
Real LSC, Crestana S, Ferreira RRM, Sígolo JB, Rodrigues VGS. 2020. Proposition for a new classification of gully erosion using multifractal and lacunarity analysis: A complex of gullies in the Palmital stream watershed, Minas Gerais (Brazil). Catena, 186, 104377. doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2019.104377.
Richards S, Rao L, Connelly S, Raj A, Raveendran L, Shirin S, Jamwal P, Helliwell R. 2021. Sustainable water resources through harvesting rainwater and the effectiveness of a low-cost water treatment. Journal of Environmental Management, 286:112223.
Sadeghi SHR, Yathribi B. 2008. Soil and water protection in forest watersheds, Rah-e Sobhan Publications commissioned by the Iranian Watershed Management Association, National Commission for UNESCO in Iran, first edition, 107 p. (In Persion).
Sadeghi SHR. 2010. Study and measurement of water erosion, Tarbiat Modares University Press, first edition, 200 p. (In Persion).
Saeediyan H, Moradi HR, Feiznia S, Bahramifar N. 2021. The role of slope aspect in runoff and sediment production of Ghachsaran and Aghajari formations. Physical Geography Research Quarterly, 53(2). (In Persion). doi.org/10.22059/JPHGR.2021.313859.1007576.
Salvi SS, Mukhopadhyay SD, Ranade AR, Rajagopalan A. 2017. Morphometric analysis of river drainage basin.watershed using GIS and RS: a review. International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology, 5:503-508.
Shahzad F, Mahmood SA, Gloaguen R. 2010. Nonlinear analysis of drainage systems to examine surface deformation: an example from Potwar Plateau (Northern Pakistan). Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 17(2): 137-147. (In Persion).
Shang P, Kamae S. 2005. Fractal nature of time series in the sediment transport phenomenon. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals, 26(3): 997-1007.
Singh WR, Barman S, Tirkey G. 2021. Morphometric analysis and watershed prioritization in relation to soil erosion in Dudhnai Watershed. Applied Water Science, 11(9):1-12.
Soler M, Latron J, Gallart F. 2007. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins in a mountainous, Mediterranean area (Vallcebre, Eastern Pyrenees). Geomorphology-02336: 10 p.
Tahmasebi Z, Zal F, Ahmani-khalajiA. 2015. Morphology of tourmaline in the Mashhad granites (g2) with using fractal analysis and Diffusion-Limited Aggregation. Iranian Journal of Crystallography and Mineralogy, 3:417-428.
Tukura NG, Akalu MM, Hussein M, Befekadu A. 2021. Morphometric analysis and sub-watershed prioritization of Welmal watershed, Ganale-Dawa River Basin, Ethiopia: Implications for sediment erosion. Journal of Sedimentary Environments, 6(1):121-130.
Wang Y, He Y, Zhan J, Li Z. 2022. Identification of soil particle size distribution in different sedimentary environments at river basin scale by fractal dimension. Scientific Reports, 12(1):10960-10973.
Zhang S, Guo Y, Wang Z. 2015. Correlation between flood frequency and geomorphologic complexity of rivers network–a case study of Hangzhou China. Journal of Hydrology, 527:113-118. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.04.060.
Ziaee HA. 2001. Principles of watershed management engineering, Imam Reza University, First Edition, 542 p. (In Persion).

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 02 July 2023
  • Revise Date: 25 July 2023
  • Accept Date: 21 September 2023

Share

How to cite

Statistics