Watershed Boundaries and Relationship Between Stream Order and Watershed Morphology at Fort Benning, Georgia

摘要

This paper describes the procedures followed to develop a detailed watershed database for Fort Benning, Georgia, and the surrounding area. In addition, the relationship between watershed morphology and stream order was examined. Watershed order and a number of variables describing surface topography and the network were computed and statistical analysis procedures were used to develop a predictive relationship. Watershed boundaries were computed from a digital elevation model and assigned an order using the Strahler stream-ordering technique. This procedure is rather tedious and requires that all the drainage network upstream of the area of interest be digitized. A number of physical parameters defining these watersheds were computed using a geographic information system (GIS) and the relationship of these parameters to stream order was examined. The purpose of this analysis was to determine if stream order could be predicted reliably using a number of computed physical parameters. Regression analysis showed that stream order had a highly significant relationship (r-square = 0.77) with two easily computed variables: total relief; and average slope. A procedure for estimating stream order, within an acceptable degree of error, could be beneficial for many applications, such as assisting in the parameterization of hydrologic models.