МОРФОМЕТРИЧЕСКИЕ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ БАССЕЙНОВ РЕК СЕВЕРО-ЗАПАДНОГО СКЛОНА КРЫМСКИХ ГОР (НА ПРИМЕРЕ БАССЕЙНОВ РЕК ЗАПАДНЫЙ БУЛГАНАК, АЛЬМА, КАЧА, БЕЛЬБЕК, ЧЕРНАЯ)

Abstract

Zapadnyy Bulganak, Alma, Kacha, Belbek, Chernaya rivers belong to the rivers of the north-western slope of the Crimean Mountains. The sources of the rivers are located on the north-western slopes of the Main Ridge of the Crimean Mountains, then the rivers flow from east to west almost parallel to each other. Up to about the middle of their course, they have a character typical of mountain streams (except for the Zapadnyy Bulganak River). The river valleys in the upper reaches are V-shaped, narrow, their slopes are dissected by numerous gullies and tributaries. There are almost no tributaries in the middle and lower reaches. In the low-water period (low-water period), drying is observed in the estuaries of rivers. The catchment basins have an elongated shape along the river, expanded in the upper part, which is the main feeding area.The considered river basins, although they have, in comparison with the rest, the river basins of the Crimean Peninsula, are better studied in general, but they are not sufficiently studied. In the article author deals with the main morphometric characteristics of river basins of the North-Western slope of the Crimean Mountains. Using Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and ArcGIS software for river basins Zapadnyy Bulganak, Alma, Kacha, Belbek, Chernaya are analyzed the following morphometric parameters – area of the basin, the symmetry of the basin, length of the basin, width of the basin, configuration and irregularity of the outline of river basin, the highest and lowest elevation within the basin, the average altitude of the river basin, the average slope of the river basin. Some of the morphometric indicators are calculated for the first time. For morphometric indicators that were partially previously calculated using topographic maps and published in literature, a comparison and analysis with the calculated data is provided. It is established that the using of SRTM and the ArcGIS software allows for fairly accurate measurements of morphometric indicators of the river basin.