JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Surface runoff is one of the most significant components of the water cycle, which increases soil erosion and sediment transportation in rivers and decreases the water quality of rivers. Therefore, accurate prediction of hydrological response of watersheds is one of the important steps in regional planning and management plans. In this regard, the rainfall-runoff modeling helps hydrological researchers, especially in water engineering sciences.  The present study was conducted to analyze the rainfall-runoff simulation in the Gorganrood watershed located in northeastern Iran using AWBM, Sacramento, SimHyd, SMAR, and Tank models. Daily rainfall, daily evapotranspiration, and daily runoff of seven hydrometric stations in the period of 1970-2010 and 2011-2015 were used for calibration and validation, respectively. The automated calibration process was performed using genetic evolutionary search algorithms and SCE-UA methods, using Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and root mean of square error (RMSE) evaluation criteria. The results indicated that the SimHyd model with NSE of 0.66, TANK model using Genetic Algorithm and SCE-UA methods with NSE of 0.67 and 0.66, and Sacramento model using genetic algorithm and SCE-UA methods with NSE of 0.52 and 0.55 have the best performance in the validation period.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the performance of some of the extracted information for mapping land degradation using remote sensing and field data in Fras province. Maps of vegetation cover, net primary production, land use, surface slope, water erosion, and surface runoff indicators were extracted from MOD13A3, MOD17A3, Landsat TM, SRTM, ICONA model, and SCS model, respectively. The rain use efficiency index was obtained from the net primary production and rainfall map, which was calculated from meteorological stations. The final land degradation map was prepared by integrating all the mentioned indicators using the weighted overlay method. According to the ICONA model, 5.1, 9, 47.21, 27.91, and 10.73 percent of the study area were classified as very low, low, moderate, severe, and very severe water erosion; respectively. Overlaying the ICONA map with other indicators showed that very high and high classes, moderate, and low and very low classes of land degradation covered 1.3, 18.7, 70, 0.9, and 9.1 percent of the study area, respectively. According to the results, integrating remote sensing with ICONA and SCS models increases the ability to identify land degradation.

Runoff is formed by spending some time after rain and significantly depends on rainfall intensity, soil moisture, and slope. One of the fundamental questions about runoff is the time that it starts to create. In this research, the runoff start time in sandy loam soil was evaluated experimentally under different conditions using a precipitation simulator machine. The rainfall intensity parameters of (60, 80, and 100 millimeters per hour) and the slope of (0 and 5 percent) were investigated. The rainfall was created in the three soil treatment types completely dry (S_dry), the dry soil that had been saturated 24 hours before the test (S_24hrlag), and the dry soil that had been saturated 48 hours before the test (S_48hrlag). Eighteen tests were conducted on this soil. At the end of each test, the soil moisture was measured. The experimental results were compared with the numerical model of Green-Ampt. According to the Kendall and Spearman correlation test results, as the rainfall be intense, the start time of the runoff is lower. Also, the runoff starts at a faster time in the slope of 5 percent for every three types of soil. Also, the results of starting time of the runoff in the soil with a delay of 48 hours in the rain compared to the soil with a delay of 24 hours in the rain are closer in all of the rainfall intensity and slopes compared to the case of dry soil. Therefore, in the experiments related to a delay of 24 hours, the time of the start of runoff decreases. While in tests with a delay of 48 hours, it was not much different from completely dry soil. Also, the Green-Ampt results are close to the experimental results (R²=0.9775), and the maximum difference between the two mentioned methods is 4.8 minutes. Therefore, it can be used with the Green-Ampt method to calculate the start time of runoff in sandy loam soil in different states of rainfall intensity and bed slope.

Awareness of water resources status is essential for the proper management of resources and planning for the future due to the occurrence of climate change in most parts of the world and its impact on different parts of the water cycle. Hence, many studies have been carried out in different regions to analyze the effects of climate change on the hydrological process in the coming periods. The present study examined the effects of climate change on surface runoff using the Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model (AOGCM) in Khomeini Shahr City. The maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation of the upcoming period (2020-2049) were simulated using a weighted average of three models for each of the minimum and maximum temperatures and precipitation parameters based on the scenario A2 and B1 (pessimistic and optimistic states, respectively) of the AOGCM-AR4 models. The LARS-WG model was also used to measure the downscaling. The HEC-HMS was used to predict runoff. The effects of climate change in the coming period (2020-2049) compared with the observation period (1971-2000), in the A2 scenario, the minimum and maximum temperatures would increase by 1.1 and 1.6 Degrees Celsius, respectively, and the precipitation would decrease 17.8 percent. In the B1 scenario, the minimum and maximum temperatures would increase by 1.1 and 1.4 degrees Celsius, respectively, and the precipitation would decrease by 13 percent. The results of runoff were different in the six scenarios in the way the most runoff reduction is related to the scenario of fixed land use and scenario A2 (22.2% reduction), and the most increase is related to the scenario of 45% urban growth and scenario B1 (5.8% increase). So, according to increase urban texture in the future and consequently enhance the volume of runoff, this volume of runoff can be used to feed groundwater, irrigate gardens, and green space in the city.

Land use changes are one of the main factors in the amount of surface runoff changes in watersheds. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate it to reduce the damages (human and financial) caused by floods and to modify watershed management. The watershed of Nahre Azam is located in the north of Shiraz city and a lot of loss of life and money to the residents of Shiraz due to floods has occurred in previous years. The present research was conducted to investigate the relationship between land use change and runoff in the Nahre Azam watershed in Shiraz using the SWAT model in the period of 2004-2020. The model was calibrated using data from 2004 to 2014 and validated for 2015 to 2020. These images were classified into 6 main land uses using the supervised classification method after performing necessary pre-processing, and a land use map was prepared for 2040 using the Markov chain method. Then, the effect of the land use change in 2003 and 2040 on the amount of simulated runoff was evaluated with the recalibrated model. The calibration results of Nahre Azam watershed for the values of statistical parameters in the calibration step for the coefficient of determination, P-Facor and R-Facor are 0.77, 0.72, and 2.43, respectively, and for the validation step we obtained 0.69, 0.65, and 2.3 respectively. The analysis of the land use map showed that the main land use change in the region related to the conversion of pastures to agricultural land and urban land, which caused a decrease in pastures. Also, the results of the model simulation using the land use maps of 2003 and 2040 indicated that the amount of runoff decreased. The results revealed that if all the uncertainties are minimized, the calibrated SWAT model can produce acceptable hydrological simulation results for the user, which is useful for water resource and environmental managers and politicians as well as city managers of Shiraz.

Astragalus is the vegetation of many mountains of Iran's plateau and plays a major role in providing ecosystem services due to its pillow shape and deep rooting system, they facilitate the control and penetration of precipitation into the soil. The correlation of Astragalus ecosystems with arid and semi-arid climates has made them vulnerable to climate change. In this study, a runoff yield map based on the Budyco curve under current and future conditions of climate change (2050) was prepared using climate and temperature data from the Chelsea site (CanESM2 GCM) in TerrSet software and by using maps of sub-watersheds, annual precipitation, annual potential evapotranspiration, soil depth, plant accessible water and the current and future "Land Cover - Land Use" map, with a combination of field methods and species distribution models at the local scale of the Shur River watershed of Dehaghan (Central Zagros). Finally, the excess runoff damage produced due to climate change was estimated using the replacement cost method. The results indicated an increase in the annual runoff volume of the watershed from 70 million cubic meters to 105 million cubic meters under climate change conditions for the RCP26 scenario in 2050. Taking into account the cost of 10 million Rials for controlling 530 cubic meters of runoff through various watershed management projects, preventing the damages of excess runoff produced requires a credit amounting to 660 billion Rials based on the present value. This study proved the ability of TerrSet software to predict and produce an ecosystem service map of runoff yield under climate changes or land use changes and with the purpose of valuation on a local scale. Also, the above valuation can be the basis for planning and providing credit for the study and implementation of watershed management projects to deal with the threats of climate change.

Today, the problems related to floods and inundation have increased, particularly in urban areas due to climate change, global warming, and the change in precipitation from snow to rain. Therefore, there has also been an increasing focus on rainfall-runoff simulation models to manage, reduce, and solve these problems. This research utilized SewerGEMS software to explore different scenarios to evaluate the model's performance based on the number of sub-basins (2 and 8) and return periods (2 and 5 years). Additionally, four methods of calculating concentration time (SCSlag, Kirpich, Bransby Williams, and Carter) were compared to simulate flood hydrographs in Shahrekord city. The results indicated that increasing the return period from 2 to 5 years leads to an increase in peak discharge in all scenarios. Furthermore, based on the calculated continuity error, the Kirpich method is preferred to estimate the concentration-time in scenarios with more sub-basins and smaller areas. For the 2-year return period, a continuity error of 4% was calculated for the scenario with 2 sub-basins, while for the 5-year return period, the continuity error was 19%. On the other hand, the SCSlag method is preferred to estimate the concentration-time in scenarios with fewer sub-basins and larger areas. For the scenario with 8 sub-basins, a continuity error of 16% was calculated for the 2-year return period, and 11% for the 5-year return period.

This study aims to investigate the possibility of hydrological simulation of the Azna-Aligoudarz area, which is located in the upper reaches of Karoun Bozorg basin and in the east of Lorestan province. To carry out this research, the daily meteorological data related to the Aligoudarz synoptic station and the rainfall of Kamandan and Dareh Takht rain gauge stations in the period of 1991-2023, the observational discharge related to the Marbareh hydrometric station in the period of 1991-2021, soil map, land use and digital elevation map of Azna-Aligoudarz basin was used. The period of 1991 and 1992 was considered for warm up the model, the validation period from 1993 to 2016, and the validation period from 2017 to 2021. Based on the simulation done in this area, the model had weakness in simulation. After the initial simulation, the model was calibrated. After analyzing the sensitivity of different parameters, 22 effective parameters were selected and the model was calibrated. The evaluation results showed that the NSE value of 0.60 and 0.56 and the R² coefficient value of 0.61 and 0.78 respectively were obtained for the calibration and validation stages. Based on the coefficients obtained in both calibration and validation stages, it was found that the model had a satisfactory accuracy in the hydrological simulation of Azna-Aligoudarz area.
 

Urban floods and stormwater runoff are among the most significant environmental and social challenges in urban areas, caused by the accumulation of rainwater and the inadequacy of stormwater collection networks. The performance of the SewerGEMS software in analyzing rainfall events and evaluating the adequacy of the stormwater collection network in Shahrekord City under various conditions has been examined. Only two of the six observed rainfall events could be simulated. In the event of 06/11/1403 (Persian calendar), the observed peak discharge was approximately 1850 liters per second. In contrast, the simulated discharge for the two-sub-basin scenario was around 1750 liters per second, and for the eight-sub-basin scenario, about 1350 liters per second. The results of the two-sub-basin scenario are more reliable. In the event of 27/11/1403, the observed peak discharge was approximately 2000 liters per second, while the simulated discharge for the two-sub-basin scenario was around 1850 liters per second, and for the eight-sub-basin scenario, about 1400 liters per second. This demonstrates that the results for the two-sub-basin scenario are more accurate. The adequacy of the network was then evaluated for return periods of 2 years and 5 years. The results indicated that the stormwater collection network of Shahrekord is generally adequate; however, some areas, such as sections of the Bouali and 13 Aban canals, have deficiencies that lead to local flooding. Finally, recommendations such as identifying locations for artificial recharge basins and continuously monitoring and inspecting the canals, particularly before the rainy season, are proposed to improve the performance of the Shahrekord stormwater collection network and reduce flood-related risks.