Assessing the Potential for the Maximum Discharge in Coșuștea Hydrographic Basin with G.I.S
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©Department of Geography. Valahia University of Targoviste Annals of Valahia University of Targoviste. Geographical Series Tome 14/2014 Issues 2: 95-110 http://fsu.valahia.ro/images/avutgs/home.html ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL FOR THE MAXIMUM DISCHARGE IN COȘUȘTEA HYDROGRAPHIC BASIN WITH G.I.S. TECHNIQUES. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: SCS - CN METHOD VS. TOPOGRAPHIC WETNESS INDEX Gabriela Adina MOROȘANU University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography Bd. Nicolae Bălcescu nr. 1, cod poștal 010041,sector 1 București, România, tel 021-315.30.74 Email [email protected] Abstract The study was conceived with in view of obtaining the zoning of the maximum volume discharge that may characterize the hidrographic basin of Coșuștea River (449 km2). Because of the fact that we did not have at our disposal enough measured data from the gauging stations in all the main subbasins of a middle surface, the emphasis on the potential of maximum water discharge remains to be calculated using a number of mathematical and hydrological models. Coșuștea river basin is situated in the north-western part of Oltenia Region, being extended over the Getic Plateau in its lower sector and over Mehedinți Plateau and Mehedinți Mountains in its upper sector. The main river (Coșuștea) has a length of approximately 77 km and it is the collector of numerous intermitent rivers and rivulets which may produce flash floods and flow accumulation in their small catchments. In its entirety, Coșuștea basin is composed of 7 main subbasins, which have surfaces from 9,5 km2 (Gârbovăț) to 202 km2 (Coșuștea, which actually accompanies the main river along its riverbed). In relation with the discharge evaluation, we opted for two methods. The first and most complex illustrates the mathematical relation between the direct discharge and precipitations, transposed in an equation where the curve number conventionally represents the maxim potential water retention for each soil type. The second method used was the topographic wetness index, which depicts zones from the river basin most prior to runoff discharge. From the employed analysis, it appears that the maximum volumes correspond to surfaces having clayey texture which are used as pastures or crops along the slope. Also, the largest volumes were calculated for the small river basins, with almost circular shape/form, such being the case of Valea Rea subbasin. As we expected, along Coșuștea river and in its homonymous subbazin, the results show a weak discharge, due to the high percentage of afforestation and complementary, due to its ellongated form/shape, which favors a long period of water concentration. Keywords: Coșuștea, curve number, maximum discharge, Topographic Wetness Index 1. INTRODUCTION Over the last years, GIS-based studies for determining the potential for water discharge and wetness persistence within watersheds have undergone significant development, both at the international level and in Romania. An essential component of water cycle is undoubtedly the surface run-off, defined as the water flow over the land surface, which eventuates when rainfall exceeds the maximum saturation soil level and also when land concavities are filled (Bilașco, 2008). Most of the studies (Hawkins et al., 2002; Bilașco, 2008; Stemaiu & Drobot, 2007) were conceived to determine the natural boundary, the areal coverage and the amount of run-off that can 95 be formed in watersheds. Among the most commonly used methods for determining the maximum discharge, while taking into account the physiographic characteristics, one should mention the empirical USDA-SCS-CN model (Walker et al., 2000; and Pandey et al., 2003), due to its simple application and proven efficiency in estimating the runoff. It was first used in 1972 and suffered a string of changes with time, depending on the climatic, hydrographic and land use conditions of the studied areas (Stematiu & Drobot, 2007). Various studies using the SCS-CN method were conducted all over the world, in places such as the Calabarzon Region, Philippines (Adornado & Yoshida, 2010), Ilinois, U.S.A. (Walker et al., 2000) and Hungary (Kovar & Hradek 1988), the last one being applied for the antecedent moisture conditions to model the possible maximum flows. In Romania, SCS-CN approaches were carried out in places such as Pecineaga (Costache, 2014), Ocna Sibiului Lake (Man & Alexe, 2006), or with the aim to achieve a flash flood prediction when having limited or no pluviometric and flow data (Bilașco, 2008). In the majority of the above mentioned examples, the function of hydrologic soil group and land-use/ land cover is represented by the CN. In addition to the CN, rainfall data was used, in order to approximate the areal run-off capacity of the watersheds, expressed numerically and integrated in different formulae (Stematiu & Drobot, 2007). Topography is often one of the major controls on the spatial pattern of saturated areas, which in turn is key to understand much of the variability in soils, hydrological processes, and stream water quality (Man & Alexe, 2006; Grabs et al., 2009). In this outlook, the topographic wetness index (TWI) has become a widely used tool to describe wetness conditions at the catchment scale. Numerous authors have attempted to correlate topographic wetness index with other indexes based on the topographical features of the study area, in order to compare their efficiency in showing the intensity and the paths of the water flow on the slopes and along the valleys. Some relevant examples in this sense would be the use of topographic wetness index, by the measurement of the upslope area, slope and creeks representation, along with the valid representation of groundwater level, moisture and pH of the soil (Sørensen et al., 2006), the estimation of the downslope gradient in four artificial constructed terrains (Cheng-Zhi Qin et al., 2011), in order to reflect the local terrain conditions for the maximum flow generation, or finally, a comparison between topographic wetness index and model-based wetness indices (Grabs et al., 2009). The advantage of estimating the extent of the areas subjected to maximum flow by the two above mentioned methods consists in their applicability to any type of slope, land cover and soil condition (Western et al., 1999), one referring to the inner property of an area to generate an elevated flow or to maintain the moisture in the soil (Topographic Wetness Index), while the other visually predicts the soil humidity and land use patterns and thresholds (SCS-CN Curve Number). 2. PARTICULARITIES OF THE STUDY AREA Coşuştea Basin is located in south-western Romania, more precisely in the north-western portion of Oltenia, bordered in the North by the 45o Northern latitude parallel, in the South by the 44o10’ Northern latitude parallel, in the West by the 22o35’ Eastern longitude meridian and in the west by the 23o 20’ Eastern longitude meridian (Figure 1). The north-western extremity of the basin is represented by a portion of the Mehedinţi Mountains and is surrounded by the summits of the Domogled Massif, which reach altitudes of more than 1200 meters along the drainage divide (Badea & Sandu, 2010). The upper sector ends with the cliff/escarpment/steep slope between the mountains and the Mehedinţi Plateau, and the plateau’s highest elevations can be found within the basin, such as Paharnicului Peak (885.4 metres) or Cornetul Babelor (759.9 m). Most of the basin coincides with the Coşuştea Hills, a part of the Getic Piedmont, with altitudes that rarely exceed 400 m (Badea & Sandu, 2010; Șchiopoiu, 1982). From a hydrographical standpoint, the Coșuștea Basin is located to the west of the Motru Basin, for whom Coșuștea is a first degree tributary. In relation with the Danube, Coșuștea is a third 96 degree tributary, through the Jiu hydrographic system (Savin, 2008). It is surrounded by numerous smaller basins, tributaries of the Motru and Cerna rivers, such as: Due to its position (Figure 1), the Coșuștea Basin has a temperate-continental climate, with Mediterranean influences in its lower and middle sectors and a temperate-mountainous climate which passes through various climate zones, as one advances upstream (Badea & Sandu, 2010). These climatic particularities determine a distinct discharge regime, with fluctuating flows in the sector represented by the Coșuștea Hills, generated by the pluviometric regime and with permanent water resources in the upper mountainous and sub-mountainous sector, which is nevertheless affected by significant water losses because of the geology of the Mehedinți Plateau and Mehedinți Mountains, which consists mostly of limestone (Romanian Geological Map; 1:200.000). Figure 1. Location of the study area The physical characteristics of the study area that mostly interested were the soils, the land cover and the slope. First, the soils of the Coșuștea Basin fall within the following zones and domains (Șchiopoiu, 1982): a. The cold climate soil zone – moist, with the cambisol domain; b. The cool climate soil zone– moist and cool – partly moist, with the cambisol, luvisol and faeoziom soil region. The soil texture provides the best connection between the possibilities of flowing waters to circulate, stagnate or infiltrate. In Coșuștea river basin, in addition to the fine textures represented by the loamy-clayey and clayey classes, one can also find overlapping areas with a moderately intense level of stagnogleic and with a loam texture (most of the interfluves). The mixed textures (loam-sandy or loam-clayey) are the most favorable for triggering hydromorphic processes and are the dominant textures in our basin. The low percentage of soils with a sandy texture (2,4%) prevents the infiltration of a significant amount of water into the soil cover during heavy rains and thus favors slope flow. 97 Second, in terms of land use, it is important to mention the significant proportion of land covered by forests and the moderate spread of secondary pastures, mixed farmland areas and orchards.