Evaluation of the Gully Erosion Risks in the Mamran Basin within Sulaymaniyah Governorate
using GIS & RS
Sura Mohammed Baqer Mohammed Jawad
The Mamran Basin is located in Sulaymaniyah Governorate - Kalar District, with a basin area of (314,746 km2), penetrated by its streams (11) agricultural villages, and thus, with its streams extending throughout all parts of these villages, it represents the arteries that feed the continuity of life in them. The erosional activity of the basin and the associated risks have been targeted, and their temporal and spatial boundaries have been identified. Regarding the temporal boundaries, they were determined by adopting rainfall data from the Sulaymaniyah station for the period (1990-2020). It was revealed that the period represented by the months of September to October signifies the stage of initial and secondary surface permeability saturation with water, which is the stage of preparation for surface water flow. Then, the stage of water flow and erosion activity begins, extending from November to the end of May, totaling (7) months. It starts gradually increasing during November, reaching its peak in January, then gradually decreasing until witnessing a state of flow interruption, stagnation, and cessation of erosion activity from June to the end of August due to the decrease in rainfall and the insufficient hydraulic support to induce water flow, especially in areas with slight slopes. Consequently, the period representing high erosion risk in the study area was defined as the period from November to the end of March. As for the spatial boundaries of the erosion activity level and the associated risks, they were determined based on the results of an equation. The results indicated that (0.6%) of the basin area is affected by moderately active erosion northwest (Bargsma, 1982) and southeast of the study area, while (15.3%) of the study area is affected by high erosion spread across scattered areas. Moreover, 80.5% of the basin area is affected by very high erosion, and (3.6%) of the basin area is affected by severe erosion.
Keywords: Gully Erosion, Mamran Basin, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, GIS & RS
