Morphologic Study of Meandering Rivers Under Controlled Flow Using RS and GIS Techniques (Case study: Zayandehrud River at the downstream of Zayandehrud dam)

Morphologic study of rivers is very important in stabilization and determination of river boundaries. Dams are structures which have the highest effects on river morphology. Studies of river changes are usually time-consuming and possible only in the long-term timescales. To detect these changes, using satellite images over specific time periods and cartographic methods are useful. In the present study, morphological changes of Zayandehrud River, at downstream of Zayandehrud dam, between hydrometric stations of Sad-e-Tanzimi and Pol-e-Zamankhan, were investigated through 7 series of Landsat satellite photos from 1980 to 2015 by applying ENVI 4.8 and Arc GIS10.2 software. Based on the results, the method of enhancing the contrast as saturated linear expansion, along with the edge enhancement filter, was found an appropriate method for determining the boundary between land and water. In the next step, the river path was entered into Arc GIS 10.2, and geometric parameters of the river such as wavelength, sinuosity ratio, central angle and radius of circle tangent to the curve were determined. Also, statistical analysis of geometric parameters was performed by applying SPSS software. Results showed that from 1986 up to now the sinuosity ratio has risen from 2.14 to 2.38, while the radius of river curvatures and wavelength of meanders have decreased by 5% and 11.4%, respectively. Overall, the river has decreased its arcs’ curvature and bends have been moved to downstream. The main cause of this phenomenon is constructions in the river borders (e.g. in Markadeh and Cham-Kaka), which have disturbed the natural situation of the river. In Cham-Jangal, Cham-Khalifeh and Cham-Ali regions, due to the increase in slope and improper vegetation cover, bank erosion has reached to its highest degree. In general, although flood events have been contained by Zayandehrud dam, yet the river has great potential for erosion in the meandering sections.