Abstract
Waterfalls are specific hydrological and hydrobiological objects that often serve as the natural obstacles for spreading of aquatic animal species, resulting as discontinuous range of these species. Waterfalls and rapids create special habitats for riverine aquatic organisms and cause microclimatic changes along the coast. The areas of the largest waterfalls in Ethiopia, high-mountainous Jinbar Waterfall and low-mountainous Blue Nile Falls (Tis Abay,Tis Issat), were considered as model. Up-to-date remote sensing and GIS for processing and storing satellite and field data makes it possible to identify new waterfalls and rapids, to correct and to supply the existing literature and cartographic data. ERS data obtained from the modern satellite Sentinel-2, designed to monitor the state of the environment, as well as data from radar satellite imagery (SRTM) were used mainly. Based on the results of the analysis of cartographic materials and remote sensing data, the localization of a number of large waterfalls and rapids on the rivers of the Ethiopian Highlands was determined and the parameters for the selection of remote sensing data were established. Images with a spatial resolution of 10–15 m/pixel and higher are suitable for detecting significant waterfalls (more than 30-m wide). According to the present study, the identifying the waterfall zones by the methods of GIS analysis of topographic maps at a scale of 1:200000 and larger, as well as from satellite topographic data is possible.
Highlights
The study and search for waterfalls as the specific hydrological objects attracts much attention of specialists from different fields, including biologists
Large waterfalls are the natural obstacle for spreading of aquatic animal species, they often lead for breaking-up of their populations, and reduce indirectly the species diversity in the upper reaches of rivers (Levin et al, 2019; Roberts and Khaironizam, 2008)
The present study aims to verify the possibility of using modern remote sensing data to search for relatively small objects of the river area, for example, the river barriers
Summary
The study and search for waterfalls as the specific hydrological objects attracts much attention of specialists from different fields, including biologists. Data on the number and location of waterfalls are very limited, largely due to the inaccessible mountainous terrain where they are usually located. The present study aims to verify the possibility of using modern remote sensing data to search for relatively small objects of the river area, for example, the river barriers (rapids and waterfalls). Depending on the precipitation and the season, the height of the large upper waterfall varies from 37 to 45 m, the width, from 100 to 400 m. This group of waterfalls reaches the maximum height and width during the rainy season (June – September), when each waterfall turns into a powerful stream The power of the Jinbar Waterfall depends on the rainy season, i.e. the most powerful flow is observed in late summer
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