Estimation of the Areas with Accelerated Surface Runoff in the Upper Prahova Watershed (Romanian Carpathians)
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Estimation of the Areas with Accelerated Surface Runoff in the Upper Prahova Watershed (Romanian Carpathians) Liliana Zaharia1, Gabriel Minea1, Gabriela Ioana-Toroimac1, Ruth Barbu2, Ioan Sârbu1 1University of Bucharest – Faculty of Geography, Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Bucharest, Romania 2University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography, “Simion Mehedinţi – Nature and Sustainable Development” Doctoral School, Bucharest, Romania E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract This paper aims to identify the areas prone to rapid surface runoff and, consequently, with high potential for flood occurrence. In order to reach this goal we relied on the Flash Flood Potential Index (FFPI), which integrates those physical parameters of the watershed that control the surface flow: rock permeability, soil texture, slope gradient, curvature profile and land use. The integration of these parameters was accomplished in a GIS environment, through multiple operations that included digitization, interpolation, cropping, conversion, classification, reclassification and cartographic algebra. The size of the grid cell was set to 20 (hence, the area of a pixel/cell was 400 m2). Depending on the favorability/restrictiveness of each flow control factor, five classes, numbered from 1 to 5, were established. By adding the specific values of each class with the investigated parameters, we obtained a new grid, called FFPI. This was further reclassified into four classes: very low, low, medium and high. The study area overlaps the Upper Prahova watershed, a region with significant socio-economic importance (especially for the road and railroad transportation, as well as for tourist activities), where floods and other associated phenomena (inundations, landslides) are frequent and may lead to serious damage. The preliminary results of the investigation point out the prevalence of the areas with medium and low FFPI; the values of the FFPI are high especially within the urban areas, where good conditions for accelerated flow exist, which explains why these areas are so much prone to flooding and slope processes. Keywords: accelerated surface runoff, flash flood potential index (FFPI), physiographical features, Upper Prahova Watershed 1. Introduction Surface runoff is the resultant of the interaction between the specific natural and anthropogenic factors in a given area (Pişota & Zaharia, 2002). While climatic factor (and especially precipitation) is the main control of surface runoff, under similar pluviometric input, hydrological response is very different, depending on the features of the area affected by the flow. Thus, part of the meteoric water may be retained by the vegetation canopy (especially the forest) or by the forest litter (Arghiriade, 1977; Gaspar, 2006). Depending on the characteristics of the bedrock and soil (porosity, permeability, texture, water saturation etc.), another fraction of precipitation percolates the substratum, thus contributing to the ground-water runoff (Scrădeanu & Alexandru, 2007). In urban areas, the highly impervious substratum favors the surface flow and water accumulation in the low-lying areas. Terrain morphological features and morphometric attributes control water concentration and water velocity along the slopes. These factors are variable in space and time (because of the phenological phases, soil humidity, changes in land use and land occupation), and that’s why their influence on runoff increases or diminishes accordingly. The combination of all the factors that encourage accelerated overland flow increases the susceptibility of flood occurrence, especially within the medium and small watersheds in the mountain areas (Stănescu & Drobot, 2002). Within this context, the present paper aims, by integrating the main physical factors controlling the surface flow, to estimate the areas prone to accelerated runoff, and therefore with high potential for flood occurrence. The integration was accomplished in GIS environment and it materialized in the computation of a synthetic index, called Flash Flood Potential Index (FFPI). Depending on its values, four classes reflecting the flood ocurrence potential were established (very low, low, medium and high). FFPI method was initiated by Smith (2003) and applied for case studies in the United States (Abeyta 2009; Brewster, 2010; Kruzdlo & Ceru, 2010). In Romania, it was employed and adapted by Mătreaţă & Mătreaţă (2010), Teodor & Mătreaţă (2011) and Minea (2011), who used it in order to estimate the flash flood potential on small BALWOIS 2012 - Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia - 28 May, 2 June 2012 1 and medium watersheds. Borcan & Achim (2011) applied the method on a larger basin (the Ialomiţa’s). The study deals with the upper (mountain) watershed of the Prahova River (about 340 km2), a region that, because of its specific socio-economic activities (especially transportation and tourism), is vulnerable to the risks induced on the one hand by the slope runoff, and on the other hand by the floods. The obtained results were partly validated by field observations. These data may be turned into useful spatial information, which can support the planning efforts aimed at curbing, or at least at diminishing, the risks induced by floods and accelerated flow down the slopes. 2. Study area The study area overlaps, as mentioned previously, the upper watershed of the Prahova River (area 337 km2; river length 35 km), lying in the Carpathian Mountains, at the contact between their Eastern and Southern branches. More specifically, it belongs on the west to the Bucegi Mts., on the east to the Baiu Mts. and on the north to the Timişului Mts. (Fig. 1), which are predominantly made up of Lower Cretaceous sedimentary formations, represented by calcareous sandstones, calcareous schists and sandy schists. Because of the lithology, fault systems and neotectonic processes, in the Curvature Carpathians region uplifting processes are extremely active: in the study area the lifting rates are “as high as +5 mm/yr” (Zugrăvescu et al., 1998). Figure 1. Upper Prahova Catchment and location of gauging and weather stations. Gauging stations: 1. Azuga on Azuga River. 2. Buşteni on Valea Cerbului River, 3. Buşteni on Prahova River. Weather stations: a – Predeal, b – Omu Peak, c – Sinaia 1500 Source data: information processed from topographic maps, scale 1:25,000; geo-spatial.org, 2011 BALWOIS 2012 - Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia - 28 May, 2 June 2012 2 The valleys are narrow, with breaks of slopes in their long profile. The mean altitude of the watershed (determined through GIS techniques), based on the topographic maps of Romania (edition 1980), is 1286 m. Maximum elevation reaches 2505 m a.s.l. in the Omu Peak, while the minimum altitude of 571 m a.s.l. is found within the Prahova channel, at the point where it leaves the investigated territory (Fig. 1). The mean gradient of the watershed is 23.1°; gradients between 30° and 81.1° can be observed on 23.03% of the study area, and especially in the Bucegi Mts., on the “Bucegi Eastern Scarp” (Mihai et al., 2009). The cliff has a structural origin, inasmuch as it represents the flank of a syncline (Micalevich - Velcea, 1961). In the Upper Prahova watershed, precipitation is the main flood control. The mean amount of recorded precipitation at the weather stations in the area is 941.7 mm at Predeal (1090 m a.s.l. altitude), 999.1 mm at Omu Peak (2505 m a.s.l.), and 1025,7 mm at Sinaia (1510 m a.s.l.) (according to Administraţia Naţională de Meteorologie – ANM, 2008, and to the data obtained from the National Meteorological Administration – NMA, for the period 1961 – 2000). Most precipitation falls during the May – August interval (over 120 mm/month in June and July); they have a prevailing torrential character and generate floods (Fig. 2a). The maximum precipitation fallen in 24 hours has reached 122.1 mm at Predeal (on June), 102.4 mm at Omu Peak (on June), and 106 mm at Sinaia (on July) (Fig. 2b). 150 a 150 b Predeal w.s. Predeal w.s. Omu Peak w.s. Omu Peak w.s. Sinaia w..s. 120 120 Sinaia w.s. 90 90 60 60 Precipitation (mm) Precipitation Precipitation (mm) Precipitation 30 30 0 0 I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII Time Time Figure 2. Mean (a) and maximum in 24 h (b) precipitations in Upper Prahova Catchment (1961 – 2000) (charts based on data from ANM) Referring to the meteorological conditions, Stăncălie et al. (2010) and Zoccatelli et al. (2010), pointed out that the effect induced by the Carpathians is characterized by „a high frequency of organized thunderstorm systems” and the hydrological response consists in „flood frequency in the summer season (late June, July and August)”. The Upper Prahova Watershed is drained by a dense network of torrential streams, channels and valleys. The basic morphometric characteristics of the Upper Prahova watershed and its main sub-basins are synthetically shown in Table 1. One can note not only the high gradients of the river thalwegs and the high mean altitudes of the watersheds, but also the small size of the basins. All these conditions encourage water concentration, accelerated overland runoff and flash flood events. Table 1. Morphometrical features of watercourses in the Upper Prahova River Watershed Data about Watercourse Watershed Watercourse L H (m) Ir Cs A Hm 2 (km) source confluence (‰) (km ) (m) Azuga* 23 1600 938 29 1.96 88 1360 Valea Cerbului* 7 1400 861 77 1.14 26 1536 Zamora* 7 1720 837 126 1.27 10 1311 Valea Rea* 7 1800 808 141 1.22 15 1337 Peleş* 6 1980 808 195 1.25 6 1415 Izvoru Dorului* 16 2140 753 87 1.50 33 1446 Valea Fetei* 5 1400 882 103 1.12 10 1324** Prahova** 35 1200 517 19 1,26 337 1286 L = river length, H = altitude, Ir = river slope, Cs = sinuosity coefficient, A = watershed area, Hm = watershed mean altitude. * - According to data from Aquaproiect, 1992; ** - Results obtained through GIS techniques based on the topographic maps of Romania, scale 1: 25,000, edition 1980.