JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Determine appropriate locations with accuracy and speed required is for Floodwater spreading very important. The main objective of this research, preparation, use and evaluation decision support systems is based on GIS and RS techniques to identify and prioritization appropriate areas Floodwater spreading in the study area. In this study area suitable for flood water spreading were selected based on major criteria four, sub criteria eight and index twentyfour. Finally five scenario will be provide and assessment (a scenario based on the relative values for the criteria four, and different scenarios four based on the obvious one of the main criteria). Comparison desirability average among the scenarios five indicate that it is Sub watershed (1) In the scenario third (infilteration preferred, water application preference and equality of all the main criteria) had a higher average desirability therefore between Sub watershed 2 in this scenario is preferred more than the other Sub. Of between the two sub watershed ivar region considering that the desirability average, sub watershed (1) and implemented of between scenarios, scenario (1) (infilteration major criteria preferred) were selected as first priority. Second priority for Floodwater spreading site selection is belong to sub watershed 2, and with scenario (1).

Evaluation of hydrologic behaviour and soil erosion as an environmental crisis is important in order to maintain watershed ecological safety at optimum level. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of the distributed hydrological WetSpa model in simulating erosion and sediment transport and also sedigraph in Taleghan watershed, Iran. Base digital maps and daily meteorological time series data for 9 years are the major model inputs. The calibration of global parameters was done for the first 5 years and the model validation was carried out for 4 years considering three month warm-up period at the beginning of both calibration and validation periods. The Nash-Sutcliffe criterion for the calibration and validation periods pointed out the efficiency of model simulation (82.7% and 79%, respectively). The next phase, the erosion module was calibrated for erosion and sediment transport simulation. The results showed the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency criterion (60% and 64% for suspended sediment concentration and transport, respectively). Overall, the evaluation results reveal the good ability of WetSpa model in simulation of the hydrological processes e.g., runoff, raindrop detachment, runoff detachment, net soil loss, etc., in a given time and space

One of the major challenges in water resources management is the operation of trans boundary watershed. This has been experienced in case of Helmand River between Iran and Afghanistan since the last century. For such a situation, application of a conceptual rainfall-runoff models that can simulate management scenarios is a relevant tool. The SWAT model can be a relevant option in this regard. However, the required hydro-climatic data for them is a serious obstacle. Especially, this problem gets exacerbated in the case of Afghanistan with poor infrastructures. So, application of this type of model would be more problematic. This paper aims to investigate capabilities of SWAT for the simulation of rainfall-runoff processes in such a data-scarce region and the upper catchment of Helmand River is used as the case study. For this purpose, discharge data of Dehraut station from 1969 to 1979 along with some metrological data were prepared and used to calibrate and validate the simulations. The results were acceptable and the coefficients of determinations (R2) during calibration and validation periods were 0.76 and 0.70, respectively. Notably, with respect to snowy condition of the basin, the elevation band option of the snow module of model had a significant effect on the results, especially in the base flows. Moreover, two Landsat satellite images during February 1973 and 1977 when the basin was partly covered with snow was prepared and compared with the SWAT outputs. Similarly, the results showed good performance of the model such that R2 were 0.87 and 0.82, respectively.

Surface runoff is one of the main causes of erosion and loss of soil fertility, sedimentation in reservoirs and reduction of river water quality. Therefore, the accurate prediction of basin response to precipitation events is very important. Hydrological models are simplified views of the actual watershed systems that can help study watershed functions in response to various inputs, and understand hydrological processes better. Due to the variety of Rainfall - Runoff models, choosing a suitable model for the basin is important for water resource planning and management. Thus, the abilities and limitations of basin hydrological models are important to consider in the selection of model. In this study, the performance of IHACRES model in daily runoff simulation of Navroud basin was investigated using evaluation criteria of Nash – Sutcliffe Index (NSH) and the mean total error and the data of Khlyan and Khrjgyl stations during the Water years 2006 - 2011. 36 months from September 2006 and 36 months from September 2009 to September 2011 were selected for calibration and test of model, respectively. Finally, results showed that Nash – Sutcliffe Index and Bias in calibration stage were 0.57 and 8/53, respectively and in verification stage, they were 0.48 and 14/9, respectively. So, the used model has an acceptable accuracy in simulating the studied basin flow.

Rainfall-runoff modeling and prediction of river discharge is one important parameter in flood control and management, hydraulic structure design, and drought management. The goal of this study is simulating the daily discharge in Kasilian watershed by using WetSpa model and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The WetSpa model is a distributed hydrological and physically based model, which is able to predict flood on the watershed scale with various time intervals. The ANFIS is a black box model which has attracted the attention of many researchers. The digital maps of topography, land use, and soil type are 3 base maps used in the model for the prediction of daily discharge while intelligent models use available hydrometric and meteorological stations' data. The results of WetSpa model showed that this model can simulate the river base flow with Nash- Sutcliff criteria of 64 percent in the validation period, but shows less accuracy with flooding discharges. The reason for this result can be the small and short Travel time noted. This model can simulate the water balance in Kasilian watershed as well. The sensitivity analysis showed that groundwater flow recession and rainfall degree-day parameters have the highest and lowest effect on the results, respectively. Also, ANFIS with the inputs of rainfall 1-day lag and evaporation 1-day lag, with Nash-Sutcliff criteria of 80, was superior to WetSpa model with Nash-Sutcliff criteria of 24 percent in the validation period.

The rainfall-runoff process and flooding are hydrological phenomena that are difficult to study due to the influence of different parameters. So far, different methods and models have been provided to analyze these phenomena. The purpose of this study is evaluation of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for storm runoff coefficient forecasting. To that end, Barariyeh watershed was chosen in Neishabour and the data of 33 events were collected from 1952 to 2006. Factor analysis (FA) was used for determination of independent variables in storm runoff coefficient forecasting. Four variables were selected as independent variables, including average rainfall, third, first and fourth quartiles of rainfall intensity and also five other variables included &phi index and first to fourth quartiles of rainfall intensity. Other variables combined based on their hydrological role were considered as ANFIS inputs. The results revealed that the ANFIS inputs including first to fourth quartiles of rainfall intensity, &phi  index, and total rainfall of five days before can predict storm runoff coefficient with R²=0.91, RMSE=0.02506, MAE=0.0666 and CE=0.87.

Drought is an extended period of low precipitation which resulted in injuries to consumers of water and reducing their performance, especially in agriculture. Different indices have already been proposed for evaluating drought, based on one of the varieties of meteorological, hydrological and agricultural droughts, but no indices has been identified yet, encompassing all factors. This study has been carried out to assess existing indices for drought monitoring and proposing an integrated index including main factors of drought and is applied to the Zayandehrood river basin as study area, because of its sensitive situation in the central Iran plateau. An integrated index includes various drought factors such as meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, socio - economical and environmental factors. In designing of this integrated index, a combination of static and dynamic layers has been used. Static layers include land use, slope and soil type. Dynamic layers include precipitation, evaporation, temperature, surface water storage, groundwater levels position, and environmental needs. All these layers are analyzed in GIS software and drought zoning maps is prepared. Results showed that based on values of integrated index, water year 1371-72 was a wet year and water year 1378-79 was the most critical, in terms of drought.

The aim of this study is to prepare the groundwater spring potential map using Weight of Evidence, logistic regression, and frequency ratio methods and comparing their efficiency in Chehlgazi watershed, province of Kurdistan. At first, 17 effective factors in springs occurrence including geology, distance to fault, fault density, elevation, relative permeability of lithological units, slope steepness, slope aspect, plan curvature, profile curvature, precipitation, distance to Stream, drainage Stream density, Sediment Transport Capacity Index (STCI), Stream Power Index, topographic wetness index (TWI) and land use/land cover (LU/LC) were selected. The validation processes of methods were conducted by relative performance characteristic curve (ROC). The area under an ROC curve (AUC) for the weight of evidence, logistic regression and frequency ratio was 85/8%, 79% and 89%, respectively. The results showed that all methods are suitable estimator for mapping the groundwater spring potential in the study area. But the frequency ratio method with the most amounts is the best method to produce and map the groundwater spring potential. Also, validation of the mappings based on the percentage of pilot springs, training springs and all springs showed that the logistic regression, WoE and frequency ratio, with 45, 56 and 45 percent of spring occurrence on the high potential classes respectively, had the highest validation.

The last two decades have seen increasing applications of digital terrain modeling in hydrological, geomorphological, pedagogical, and biological research, aided by rapid advancement of geographic information system (GIS). Hydrologic models are sensitive to change in the input values to the model, so the change of pixel size input data affects the output values of the model and produces different significant results. In this study, using topographic maps 1:25000 and 1:50000 and choosing ten pixel sizes (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 75, 80, 100, and 200) and software Arc GIS and HEC-HMS, output values of HEC-HMS model have been studied. Results of this study indicate that accuracy of peak discharge calculated by HEC-HMS model in the spatial scale map 1:50000 is more than the peak discharge calculated by HEC-HMS model in the spatial scale map 1:25000. Also accuracy of the calculated peak flows in a smaller pixel sizes (20 to 50) is more than the larger pixel sizes.

Integrated management of watershed basins depends on deep knowledge of basic concepts such as the arrangement of lands and their uses. Location and distribution of agricultural land use help to balance water resources in the watershed basins. In this research with the help of satellite images of Landsat 5 and 8, and the method of maximum likelihood classification algorithm, land use types of water, barren areas and salt lands, and irrigated agriculture were studied in the Urmia watershed in the years 2010 and 2013.Then applications of modis images and product Urmia watershed land cover for years 2010 and 2012 were compared and finally modis and Landsat land covers in 2010 were compared. Results showed that the area of irrigated farmlands of Urmia basin has increased in the years between 2010 and 2013; while, the water zone has declined. Comparison between modis and landsat in 2010 showed that modis can estimate irrigated lands and water zone better than barren areas. The kappa coefficient for years 2010 and 2013 in Landsat images are 0/77 and 0/87, respectively.

With regard to the confirmation of climate change in most regions of the world and its effects on different parts of the water cycle, knowledge of the status of water resources is necessary for proper management of resources and planning for the future. Hence many studies have been done in different areas with the aim of analyzing the impact of climate change on hydrological processes in the upcoming periods. In present research, the effect of climate change on surface runoff in Bazoft watershed has been studied. Bazoft watershed, located in North-West of Chahar Mahal & Bakhtiari province, has significant contribution in the production of water resources of the region due to its special topographical and geographical status. In this study, climatic model – HadCM3- and A2 and B2 emission scenarios have been used to assess uncertainty in forecasting climate change. For this purpose, a statistical model –SDSM- has been applied to downscale large- scale precipitation and temperature data and hydrological model –WetSpa- has been used to simulate runoff. After calibration of the hydrological model, downscaled precipitation and temperature data in near future (2020-2050) and far future (2070-2100) periods were introduced to WetSpa model and runoff was simulated for mentioned periods. Results of this study represent suitable performance of SDSM model in downscaling climatic data, especially minimum and maximum temperature. Also, performance evaluation of Wetspa model shows proper performance of this model for runoff simulation in Bazoft watershed, so that Nash- Sutcliffe efficiency during calibration and validation was 0.63 and 0.65, respectively. Moreover, assessing the amount of predicted runoff for future periods indicates an increase in annual runoff in the Bazoft watershed under both A2 and B2 scenarios.

In the last decades, climate change and fluctuation of water balance have been the main reason to apply hydrologic models for estimating quality and quantity of water components as efficient tools in water planning of critical conditions. In addition, these hydrologic models with potential to study the effects of watershed management practices on the runoff components are suitable tools for optimization of watershed operations at present and future. In this research Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) model has been applied to estimate groundwater runoff  for 6 provinces such as Eilam (Golgol Catchment), Boushehr (Baghan Catchment), Khozestan (Morghab Catchment), Fars (Shekastian Catchment), Kohkiloyeh & Boyer Ahmad(Tange Birim Catchment) and Hormozgan (Daragah Catchment) which are located in south and south west of Iran. In order to evaluate the performance of the model, hydrological data, soil, land use and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) entered for each catchment to run the SWAT model. SWAT-CUP with SUFI2 program was used for simulation, uncertainty and validation with 95ppu. P-factor and R-factor are two internal evaluation factors in SUFI2 program and indicators such as the coefficient of determination (R²) and Nash- Sutcliffe (NS) were used for evaluation of the model. The Nash-Sutcliffe coefficients in six mentioned catchments for calibration period are 0.66, 0.73, 0.40, 0.32, 0.53 and 0.78. They are 0.49, 0.48, 0.42, 0.45, 0.46 and 0.62 for validation period, respectively. Model calibration and validation results showed good performance in estimating the water balance of the basins studied. Except for Shecastian catchment, the evaluation results showed acceptable and favorable results for water balance in the study area.

Obtaining information about relative importance of sediment sources and their contributions on sediment production and thus identification of on-site critical areas is required for implementing soil and water conservations and sediment control programs. For this reason, in this study 35 geochemical tracers and organic carbon were measured in 45 samples of sediment sources and in 11 watershed sediment samples to determine the sediment deposit contribution of each land use as sediment resources in Kond watershed of Tehran province. Based on the results of Kruskal-Wallis test, from among 35 measured traces, 10 tracers including Al, As, Be, Ca, Mo, P, Pb, S, Zn and OC had ability to discriminate sediment sources with less than 1% confidence level. Then, 5 tracers: OC, S, P, Zn and As were selected as optimum composite using Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) with 0.000 confidence coefficient that had distinguishing capability of sediment sources by 97.8% correct assignation. Finally, the results of multivariate mixing model showed that contribution means of orchard, range and residential were 1.54, 14.27 and 84.18% in sediment production, respectively. Also, the sum of squares of the error was 0.33. The results of this study can be used in selecting an appropriate method for sediment control in studied area.

Water loss and nutrients loss are one of the important signs of natural resource degradation in the catchments. The amount of loss of these resources is affected by several factors including the characteristics of rainfall. In this study, the data of stream discharge (Q), total dissolve solids (TDS), and total nutrient loss ratio (NR) along with rainfall characteristics were analyzed for the events   from1988 to 2002 in the Tahamchai catchment, which is owned by a regional water company. Moreover, soil properties were determined by soil sampling from different points in the catchment surface. Based on the results, there was a significant correlation between Q of the river and rainfall height (r=0.24, p<0.05), while its correlations with the rainfall intensity and duration were not statistically significant. On the one hand, this result was due to the inverse relationship between rainfall intensity and rainfall duration; on the other hand, due to the temporal variations in vthe egetation cover in the area, it controlled Q in the intensive rainfalls. The highest Q was in spring (1.68 m3 sec-1) and March (2.58 m3 sec-1). In this period, rainfall height was high and the rainfalls interval was short. Moreover, vegetation cover was weak, so it could not control surface runoff and reduce Q in the catchment. TDS and NR also significantly varied during the months and their highest values were observed in December (282.55 mg l-1) and (61.77 mg l-1), respectively. Mg²⁺ had the highest amount of water loss in the catchment area. A negative correlation was found between Q and TDS (r=0.41, p<0.001) and NR (r=0.31, p<0.001). This study revealed that spring and autumn were the sensitive period for water loss and nutrient loss in the catchment, respectively. Therefore, promoting the vegetation cover in early spring and reducing improper agricultural practices (tillage and fertilization) could be substantial strategies contributing to conserving the catchment’s resources.