Morphometric Assessment of Wadi Wala Watershed, Southern Jordan Using ASTER (DEM) and GIS

Abstract

Morphometric analysis is of vital concern to understand hydromophological processes in a given watershed, and thus, it is a priority for assessing water resources in drainage basins. A morphometric analysis was conducted to identify the drainage properties of Wadi Wala and the 23 fourth-order sub-basins. ASTER DEM data was employed to compile slope, elevation, and aspect maps. Arc GIS software was used to measure and calculate basic, derived and shape morphometric parameters. W. Wala is found to be a sixth-order drainage basin, and the drainage pattern is trellis to sub-trellis in the central and lower part of the catchment, whereas it is dendritic to sub-dendritic pattern in the southern and northern parts. The slopes of the catchment vary from 0° - 5° to >35° in slope categories. Tectonic uplifting and tilting, lithology, structure and rejuvenation are the major factors controlling morphological variation over the watershed. The recognized fault systems are chiefly controlling the drainage pattern, and the elongated shape of the sub-basins is attributed to dense lineaments in the central and eastern parts of the watershed. The Rb values for the entire catchment and the sub-catchments range from 2 to 7, with a mean of 4.55, which indicates the distortion of drainage pattern by geological structure. Hypsometric integral values are high for the W. Wala watershed and the sub-basins, where it ranges from 70% to 89%. High HI values indicate that drainage basins are at the youth-age stage of geomorphic development, and they are affected by tectonic uplifting, tilting, and the dominance of hillslope process. Variation in HI values is apparent between sub-basins located at the western part, or, the rejuvenated belt where HI values range from 85% to 89%. Whereas the HI values of the sub-basins located at the eastern part of the watershed, vary from 70% to 84%. Regression analysis reveals that R2 values, which represent the degree of control of driving parameters on HI are reasonably high for the height of local base level (m) and the mean height of sub-basins (m). Both parameters contribute 0.42 and 0.39 respectively (where the F-value is significant at 0.1% and 0.5% levels). Such results imply that the height of local base level (m), and the mean height (m) are the only morphometric driving parameters which have significant control on HI values in the W. Wala watershed. High annual soil loss and sediment load estimated recently, denote that the catchment is highly susceptible to surface erosion at present. Hence, the present study, and the resultant information would help to plan for efficient soil and water conservation measures to reduce soil erosion rates, conserve water, and to control sediment into W. Wala dam.