In collaboration with Iranian Watershed Management Association

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Geosciences, Shahrekord University, Iran

2 MSc, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University, Iran

Abstract

Variations in the type of storms, distribution of rainfall over the basin and other influencing factors such as soil texture, land use types and slope classes leads to significant differences in the spatial distribution of water components. In this study, using the monthly scale data, including rainfall, groundwater depth, temperature, evaporation and wind speed, WetSpass-M model was used to analyze the spatial distribution of water components at the basin of interest in the south-east of the Karun Basin. The modeled results were calibrated to simulate the monthly streamflow. Considering the fact that the Vanak Basin is a mountainous area, the snow cover maps were introduced to the model in order to include melting process. Evaluation of the model's performance using the Nash-Sutcliff coefficient of 0.61 and 0.54 during the calibration and validation period, respectively showed that this objective function was acceptable. This means the model has produced acceptable outputs. After this step, the spatial distribution of runoff and groundwater recharge in relation to various land use and slope classes were studied. Analysis of the monthly spatial distribution of runoff and groundwater recharge maps showed that due to change in slope and land classes, the runoff coefficient has a significant impact on both groundwater recharge and runoff. In such a way that the forest areas and mild slopes have generated an average 138 mm annual runoff and 596 mm annual recharge accordingly, it means a lower runoff coefficient and higher recharge values. The highest montly recharge value was in February (82 mm in thin forests with the slops of less than 10˚). This may be used to provide a better understanding of the factors affecting the distribution of water balance components or help in the maintenance, management and planning of surface water and groundwater resources.

Keywords