Assessment of the Relationships among Catchments’ Morphometric Parameters and Hydrologic Indices

Abstract

In Greece the hydrological analysis of ephemeral streams has been especially difficult due to the lack of precipitation and discharge gauges. This study focuses on the investigation of possible relationship between morphometric characteristics of small to medium drainage basins and hydrological indices in order to discover morphometric parameters “predictors” of flash flood potential of ungauged catchments. Twenty-two morphometric parameters of twenty-seven drainage basins (ranging in area between 3.6 km 2 and 330.5 km 2 ) located in the northern part of the Peloponnese in southern Greece were calculated utilizing GIS software ArcGIS10. Hydrological modeling was performed using a simplified Matlab implementation of TOPMODEL, a conceptual model based on the principle of variable contributing area to runoff production through saturated overland flow, and LISEM, a physically based hydrologic and soil erosion model. Rainfall-runoff simulations were performed for an extreme precipitation event. The simulations outcomes, which include the peak discharge, time to peak and the percentage runoff, were correlated with the morphometric parameters of the catchments. Results were not consistent between the two models, probably due to their different structure, with the LISEM results being closer to what is anticipated. The results demonstrate that area, length of the basin, perimeter and compactness factor appear better correlated with the peak discharge ( Q peak ) of the catchment. The same parameters as well as Melton’s number correlate with percentage runoff ( C ), while “celerity” of the flood wave (length of the basin/time to peak) is better correlated with relief, indicating that as the relief becomes greater, the response of the basin becomes fastest.