APPLICATION OF MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS FOR SMALL RIVER BASINS OF THE BAIKAL RIFT ZONE BASINS

Abstract

The article discusses the use of morphometric analysis to study the features of formation and development of small river basins in the western branch of the Baikal rift zone basins (by example of the Ihe-Uhgun river basin). The author has prepared a hydrologically correct digital elevation model based on satellite data ALOS Digital Surface Model (DSM). A comprehensive assessment of the earth's surface was carried out, including for the purposes of geomorphological and hydrological analysis, as well as an automated calculation and mapping of standard morphometric indicators based on DEM data. The work is based on general physiographic research methods, the method of morphometric analysis of the relief using GIS, the method of geoinformation mapping. Statistical data of morphometric and hydrological indicators were collected using SAGA GIS, patterns of their distribution over the basin area were revealed, which, as a result, made it possible to draw conclusions about the factors and patterns of the river network development and determine the set of presented exogenous processes of relief formation in the Ihe-Uhgun river basin territory. The main factors in the small river basins development are: high base levels, complex tectonic structure of the territory, steep slopes and southern orientation of the slope exposure, etc. It was revealed that the geometry of the basin relief determines the direction and volume of surface runoff, as well as the intensity of exogenous geomorphological processes.