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Application of hydromorphometric parameterization and ASTER DEM to characterize hydrological indicators in the Musandam Peninsula, UAE and Oman

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Abstract

This paper investigates the use of hydromorphometric parameters and new maps and classification of landforms to characterize hydrological forms over the regional scale. This methodology was applied on a very large fractured carbonate aquifer located in the Musandam Peninsula, UAE and Oman. These hydrological forms are drainage basins, drainage network and flow accumulation, and transit and dissipation zones. These forms match in physical entities and are of real importance. Bivariate quadratic surfaces with moving window size of 3 × 3 were fitted to the DEM. The first derivative, slope steepness, and the second derivatives, minimum and maximum curvatures, were calculated as hydromorphometric parameters used to map and characterize hydrological forms at multiscale level. These, however, can be plotted into graphs of characterization and classification that comprise hydromorphometric signatures. The Landsat images, groundwater wells distribution, and spatial analysis of hydromorphometric parameter signatures allowed the assignment of the obtained results. The results revealed that this approach allowed a quick mapping and estimation of the spatial distribution of hydromorphometric parameters in a highly fractured karst regional aquifer.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Professor Peter Guth from USA Academic Navy, the Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center (ERSDAC), Japan, the NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center and the User Services, USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS), and the Consortium for Spatial Information (CSI) of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) for providing and distributing scientific advisers and remotely sensed data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, United Arab Emirates University, 6 P.O. Box 17555, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

    Samy Ismail Elmahdy

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  1. Samy Ismail Elmahdy
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Correspondence to Samy Ismail Elmahdy.

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Elmahdy, S.I. Application of hydromorphometric parameterization and ASTER DEM to characterize hydrological indicators in the Musandam Peninsula, UAE and Oman. Appl Geomat 7, 1–11 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12518-014-0143-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12518-014-0143-y

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