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Soil Erosion Prioritization of Yarmouk River Basin, Jordan Using Multiple Approaches in a GIS Environment

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Water Resources Management and Sustainability

Part of the book series: Water Science and Technology Library ((WSTL,volume 121))

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Abstract

Soil erosion is a challenging worldwide environmental issue since it entails many environmental problems such as fertility loss and water pollution. Prioritization of watershed prone to soil erosion is cornerstone in any effective and sustainable management program of natural resources. Morphometry is a powerful tool that has been extensively used for this purpose. This study presents a combination and integration of two different soil erosion prioritization methods that were applied to Yarmouk River Basin (YRB). The methods of morphometric analysis and the Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) analysis were compared for erosion prioritization. The YRB was divided into 44 sub-watersheds. Twenty-one morphometric parameters were extracted and ranked based on their values and relationships to calculate the compound factor (Cf), which was used to prioritize sub-watersheds in terms of sensitivity to soil erosion. It was found that YRB is a fifth-order drainage system, with a dendritic drainage pattern and elongated shape. Morphometric analysis resulted in categorizing about 41% of the YRB in the high and very high soil erosion susceptibility zones while the LULC analysis LULC revealed that 88.6% of the basin was classified as having high-very high susceptibility to soil erosion. The sub-watersheds 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 20, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, and 40 were found the most vulnerable to soil erosion based on both methods of analysis.

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Correspondence to Mutawakil Obeidat .

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Methodology Adopted for Computation of Morphometric Parameters

Par. No.

Morphometric parameter

Formula/definition

References

Basic

1.

Basin area (A)

Plan area of the watershed (km2)

Horton (1945)

2.

Basin perimeter (P)

Perimeter of the watershed (km)

Horton (1945)

3.

Basin length (Lb)

Length of the basin (km)

Horton (1945)

4.

Stream order (U)

Hierarchical rank

Strahler (1952, 1964)

5.

Total number of streams (Nu)

Total no. of streams of all orders

Strahler (1957)

6.

Stream length (Lu)

Length of the stream (km)

Horton (1945)

7.

Mean stream length (Lsm)

Lsm = Lu/Nu (km) where

Lu = total stream length of all orders

Nu = total no. of stream segments of order “u”

Horton (1945)

8.

Stream length ratio (RL)

RL = Lu/Lu − 1, where

Lu − 1 = the total stream length of its next lower order

Horton (1945)

Linear

9.

Bifurcation ratio (Rb)

Rb = Nu/Nu + 1, where

Nu + 1 = no. of segments of the next higher order

Schumm (1956)

10.

Mean bifurcation ratio (Rbm)

Rbm = average of the bifurcation ratio of all orders

Strahler (1957)

11.

Drainage density (Dd)

Dd = Lu/A, where

Lu = total stream length of all orders (km)

A = area of the watershed (km2)

Horton (1945)

12.

Length of overland flow (Lo)

Lo = 1/(2 * Dd), where Dd = drainage density

Horton (1945)

13.

Drainage texture (Dt)

Dt = Nu/P, where

Nu = total no. of stream segments of order “u”

P = perimeter of the watershed (km)

Horton (1945)

14.

Stream frequency (Fs)

Fs = Nu/A, where

Nu = total no. of streams of all orders

A = area of the basin (km2)

Horton (1945)

Shape

15.

Elongation ratio (Re)

Re = 1.128 * (A0.5)/Lb, where

A = area of the basin (km2)

Lb = basin length (km)

Schumm (1956)

16.

Circularity ratio (Rc)

Rc = 4 × π × A/P2, where

π = 3.14

A = area of the basin (km2)

P = perimeter (km)

Miller (1953)

17.

Shape factor (Bs)

Bs = Lb2/A, where

Lb = basin length (km)

A = area of the basin (km2)

Nooka Ratnam et al. (2005)

18.

Compactness coefficient (Cc)

Cc = 0.2812 * P/A0.5, where

P = perimeter of the basin (km)

A = area of the basin (km2)

Horton (1945)

Relief

19.

Basin relief (H)

H = h − h1, where

h = maximum height (m)

h1 = minimum height (m)

Horton (1945)

20.

Relief ratio (Rr)

Rr = H/Lb, where

H = total relief (km)

Lb = basin length (km)

Schumm (1956)

21.

Relative relief ratio (Rv)

H/P, where

H = total relief (km)

P = perimeter of the basin (km)

Melton (1957)

22.

Basin slope (Sw)

H/Lb * 60, where

H = total relief (km)

Lb = basin length (km)

Farhan and Anaba (2016)

23.

Ruggedness number (Rn)

Rn = Dd * H, where

H = basin relief (km)

Dd = drainage density

Schumm (1956)

Hypsometric

24.

Hypsometric integral (HI)

HI = (Emean − Emin)/(Emax − Emin), where

Emean = the weighted mean elevation

Emax = maximum elevation

Emin = minimum elevation

Strahler (1952)

Appendix 2: Morphometric Parameters of YRB

Par. No.

Morphometric parameter

Basic

1.

Basin area (A) (km2)

1393.22

     

2.

Basin perimeter (P) (km)

247.70

     

3.

Basin length (Lb) (km)

76.94

     

4.

Stream order (U)

5

I

II

III

IV

V

5.

Total number of streams (Nu)

2109

1092

519

307

85

106

6.

Stream length (Lu) (km)

1854

890

493

315

78

79

7.

Mean stream length (Lsm) (km)

0.88

0.82

0.95

1.03

0.91

0.74

8.

Stream length ratio (RL)

  

II/I

III/II

IV/III

V/IV

0.55

0.64

0.25

1.02

Linear

9.

Bifurcation ratio (Rb)

  

I/II

II/III

III/IV

IV/V

2.10

1.69

3.61

0.80

10.

Mean bifurcation ratio (Rbm)

2.052

     

11.

Drainage density (Dd) (km/km2)

1.331

     

12.

Length of overland flow (Lo) (km)

0.376

     

13.

Drainage texture (Dt)

8.514

     

14.

Stream frequency (Fs)

1.514

     

Shape

15.

Elongation ratio (Re)

0.547

     

16.

Circularity ratio (Rc)

0.285

     

17.

Shape factor (Bs)

4.249

     

18.

Compactness coefficient (Cc)

1.866

     

Relief

19.

Basin relief (H) (m)

1400

     

20.

Relief ratio (Rr)

18.195

     

21.

Relative relief ratio (Rv)

0.006

     

22.

Basin slope (Sw)

1.092

     

23.

Ruggedness number (Rn)

1.863

     

Hypsometric

24.

Hypsometric integral (HI)

0.5858

     

Appendix 3: The Morphometric Parameters of Sub-watersheds in YRB

SW

A

P

Lb

U

Nu

Lu

Lsm

Rbm

Dd

Lo

Dt

Fs

Re

Rc

Bs

Cc

H

Rr

Sw

Rn

Rv

HI

1

23.77

23.45

9.27

3

38

27.13

0.71

4.14

1.14

0.44

1.62

1.62

0.59

0.54

3.61

1.35

645

0.070

4.18

0.74

0.57

0.028

2

14.58

23.22

8.76

2

14

17.02

1.22

1.33

1.17

0.43

0.60

0.96

0.49

0.34

5.26

1.71

636

0.073

4.36

0.74

0.61

0.027

3

25.25

31.44

9.93

3

44

29.10

0.66

1.70

1.15

0.43

1.40

1.74

0.57

0.32

3.90

1.76

620

0.062

3.75

0.71

0.58

0.020

4

6.85

13.04

3.83

2

9

7.89

0.88

2.00

1.15

0.43

0.69

1.31

0.77

0.51

2.14

1.40

504

0.132

7.90

0.58

0.68

0.039

5

9.47

17.30

5.55

2

11

6.23

0.57

2.67

0.66

0.76

0.64

1.16

0.63

0.40

3.25

1.58

452.2

0.082

4.89

0.30

0.58

0.026

6

5.31

14.87

5.06

2

5

5.3

1.07

1.50

1.01

0.50

0.34

0.94

0.51

0.30

4.82

1.81

401

0.079

4.75

0.40

0.73

0.027

7

7.72

15.93

5.31

3

19

7.75

0.41

1.83

1.00

0.50

1.19

2.46

0.59

0.38

3.65

1.61

391

0.074

4.42

0.39

0.67

0.025

8

17.86

27.53

9.21

3

25

19.10

0.76

1.63

1.07

0.47

0.91

1.40

0.52

0.30

4.75

1.83

378

0.041

2.46

0.40

0.63

0.014

9

17.16

18.96

5.74

3

24

22.51

0.94

1.68

1.31

0.38

1.27

1.40

0.81

0.60

1.92

1.29

336

0.058

3.51

0.44

0.64

0.018

10

20.80

31.44

10.08

3

28

21.18

0.76

4.10

1.02

0.49

0.89

1.35

0.51

0.26

4.88

1.94

587

0.058

3.49

0.60

0.70

0.019

11

6.96

16.32

4.57

2

9

5.84

0.65

2.00

0.84

0.60

0.55

1.29

0.65

0.33

3.00

1.74

484

0.106

6.35

0.41

0.68

0.030

12

19.94

32.47

11.34

3

23

22.05

0.96

1.83

1.11

0.45

0.71

1.15

0.44

0.24

6.44

2.05

544

0.048

2.88

0.60

0.69

0.017

13

12.37

18.66

5.16

2

15

13.02

0.87

1.14

1.05

0.48

0.80

1.21

0.77

0.45

2.15

1.49

397

0.077

4.62

0.42

0.64

0.021

14

6.00

12.85

4.02

2

10

5.27

0.53

1.50

0.88

0.57

0.78

1.67

0.69

0.46

2.70

1.47

349

0.087

5.20

0.31

0.82

0.027

15

6.92

16.24

5.22

2

8

4.98

0.62

3.00

0.72

0.69

0.49

1.16

0.57

0.33

3.94

1.74

313

0.060

3.60

0.23

0.83

0.019

16

19.68

31.47

10.18

3

29

22.12

0.76

1.63

1.12

0.45

0.92

1.47

0.49

0.25

5.27

2.00

414

0.041

2.44

0.47

0.73

0.013

17

30.10

27.47

8.56

3

46

37.55

0.82

11.07

1.25

0.40

1.68

1.53

0.72

0.50

2.43

1.41

308

0.036

2.16

0.38

0.68

0.011

18

14.81

22.17

5.85

3

21

16.35

0.78

1.60

1.10

0.45

0.95

1.42

0.74

0.38

2.31

1.62

326

0.056

3.35

0.36

0.66

0.015

19

21.19

32.25

7.83

3

25

22.44

0.90

2.94

1.06

0.47

0.78

1.18

0.66

0.26

2.90

1.97

227

0.029

1.74

0.24

0.77

0.007

20

45.00

38.35

10.74

4

69

54.06

0.78

5.43

1.20

0.42

1.80

1.53

0.70

0.38

2.57

1.61

292

0.027

1.63

0.35

0.72

0.008

21

9.66

17.98

5.30

2

12

10.43

0.87

1.40

1.08

0.46

0.67

1.24

0.66

0.38

2.90

1.63

94

0.018

1.07

0.10

0.30

0.005

22

57.84

48.78

15.05

3

82

71.60

0.87

1.75

1.24

0.40

1.68

1.42

0.57

0.31

3.92

1.80

122

0.008

0.49

0.15

0.55

0.003

23

23.17

30.62

9.31

3

27

26.14

0.97

6.18

1.13

0.44

0.88

1.17

0.58

0.31

3.74

1.79

124

0.013

0.80

0.14

0.48

0.004

24

14.09

21.97

6.40

3

31

19.31

0.62

1.67

1.37

0.37

1.41

2.20

0.66

0.37

2.90

1.65

136

0.021

1.28

0.19

0.43

0.006

25

35.27

36.20

12.86

3

40

42.65

1.07

1.64

1.21

0.41

1.11

1.13

0.52

0.34

4.69

1.71

393

0.031

1.83

0.48

0.31

0.011

26

19.45

27.60

9.85

3

24

24.25

1.01

1.80

1.25

0.40

0.87

1.23

0.51

0.32

4.99

1.76

364

0.037

2.22

0.45

0.37

0.013

27

37.68

44.33

15.76

4

57

52.16

0.92

4.07

1.38

0.36

1.29

1.51

0.44

0.24

6.60

2.03

546

0.035

2.08

0.76

0.29

0.012

28

55.25

44.14

14.92

3

79

71.25

0.90

1.69

1.29

0.39

1.79

1.43

0.56

0.36

4.03

1.67

547

0.037

2.20

0.71

0.35

0.012

29

11.65

27.60

9.88

3

17

14.46

0.85

4.14

1.24

0.40

0.62

1.46

0.39

0.19

8.39

2.27

220

0.022

1.34

0.27

0.30

0.008

30

46.93

41.53

14.21

4

51

67.90

1.33

4.46

1.45

0.35

1.23

1.09

0.54

0.34

4.30

1.71

539

0.038

2.28

0.78

0.41

0.013

31

35.49

29.94

9.65

3

42

42.90

1.02

1.67

1.21

0.41

1.40

1.18

0.70

0.50

2.62

1.41

343

0.036

2.13

0.42

0.58

0.011

32

23.82

23.41

8.08

3

32

29.34

0.92

2.15

1.23

0.41

1.37

1.34

0.68

0.55

2.74

1.35

337

0.042

2.50

0.42

0.46

0.014

33

69.01

48.87

16.34

4

104

95.13

0.92

2.08

1.38

0.36

2.13

1.51

0.57

0.36

3.87

1.65

438

0.027

1.61

0.60

0.47

0.009

34

65.23

50.96

15.92

3

84

91.49

1.09

1.79

1.40

0.36

1.65

1.29

0.57

0.32

3.89

1.77

280

0.018

1.06

0.39

0.27

0.005

35

62.31

41.28

12.64

4

106

100.32

0.95

2.27

1.61

0.31

2.57

1.70

0.71

0.46

2.56

1.47

367

0.029

1.74

0.59

0.34

0.009

36

63.59

40.75

14.13

4

118

100.05

0.85

2.24

1.57

0.32

2.90

1.86

0.64

0.48

3.14

1.44

238

0.017

1.01

0.37

0.24

0.006

37

49.50

49.73

15.81

3

75

63.25

0.84

1.25

1.28

0.39

1.518

1.52

0.50

0.25

5.05

1.99

191

0.012

0.73

0.24

0.42

0.004

38

33.84

33.93

11.50

3

49

43.69

0.89

1.86

1.29

0.39

1.44

1.45

0.57

0.37

3.91

1.64

168

0.015

0.88

0.22

0.29

0.005

39

73.59

52.61

15.61

4

110

101.09

0.92

4.61

1.37

0.36

2.09

1.50

0.62

0.33

3.31

1.72

182

0.012

0.70

0.25

0.29

0.003

40

65.08

44.11

12.11

4

103

89.38

0.87

5.98

1.37

0.36

2.34

1.58

0.75

0.42

2.26

1.54

208

0.017

1.03

0.29

0.40

0.005

41

74.34

50.12

15.72

3

122

93.22

0.76

1.65

1.25

0.40

2.43

1.64

0.62

0.37

3.33

1.64

247

0.016

0.94

0.31

0.44

0.005

42

26.45

27.69

8.31

3

47

34.19

0.73

1.67

1.29

0.39

1.70

1.78

0.70

0.43

2.61

1.51

90

0.011

0.65

0.12

0.28

0.003

43

52.30

46.68

13.24

3

75

71.62

0.96

1.76

1.37

0.37

1.61

1.43

0.62

0.30

3.35

1.82

106

0.008

0.48

0.15

0.52

0.002

44

55.94

41.47

13.49

3

80

71.39

0.89

1.82

1.28

0.39

1.93

1.43

0.63

0.41

3.25

1.56

122

0.009

0.54

0.16

0.48

0.003

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Al-Hantouli, F., Awawdeh, M., Obeidat, M. (2023). Soil Erosion Prioritization of Yarmouk River Basin, Jordan Using Multiple Approaches in a GIS Environment. In: Sherif, M., Singh, V.P., Sefelnasr, A., Abrar, M. (eds) Water Resources Management and Sustainability. Water Science and Technology Library, vol 121. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24506-0_20

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