مجله مهندسی و مدیریت آبخیز
سال شانزدهم شماره 1 (بهار 1403)

Identification of the areas prone to landslides and the risks arising from them is one of the primary measures in natural resource management and development and construction planning. Considering the loss of lives, financial losses and environmental effects, landslides have been one of the most important natural disasters in the world and especially in our country, which every year plays an increasing role in the destruction of communication roads, pastures, gardens, residential areas, cause erosion and produces a high volume of sediment in the watersheds of the country. These issues have led to the use of data mining models in geological and geotechnical studies. In recent years, the use of geographic information systems and remote sensing along with machine learning methods has created a new step in landslide occurrence zoning and landslide susceptibility maps with appropriate accuracy. The watershed of Karaj Dam is one of the areas prone to landslides due to mountainous and rainy conditions and many construction due to suitable weather conditions and non-standard road construction. The purpose of this research is to prioritize the factors affecting landslides using the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt model) and to determine areas with landslide susceptibility potential.

The Karaj Dam watershed is located in the east of Alborz Province. The highest and lowest average annual rainfall is calculated as 1099 and 608 mm, respectively. In this research, in order to determine the areas with landslide susceptibility, among 11 factors affecting the landslide potential of the area, including height, slope, slope direction, distance from waterway, lithology, rainfall, land use, topographic moisture index, surface curvature, distance from the waterway and the distance from the road, the factors were selected and tested for collinearity with the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) test in SPSS software. From the total of 477 landslides, 70% were randomly classified as test data (334 points) and 30% as validation data (143 points). In this research, the maximum entropy model is used. To determine the most important parameters, the jackknife diagram and the Relative Performance Detection Curve (ROC) were used to determine the predictive power of the model. Landslide points of the studied area were prepared from the database of the General Directorate of Natural Resources and Watershed Management of Alborz Province and field visits.

The results showed that there is no co-linearity between the used factors. According to the Jackknife diagram, rainfall layers, distance from the road, lithology and land use were respectively the most important factors influencing the occurrence of landslides in the study area. The relative performance detection curve showed the accuracy of 90% (excellent) of the maximum entropy method in the training phase and 83% (very good) in the validation phase. According to the final landslide susceptibility map, more than 35% of the study area has high and very high landslide susceptibility potential.

According to the obtained results, it can be said that the MaxEnt model has a high ability to determine landslide-susceptible areas, and due to the high speed and accuracy of the model, it is suggested that it be used in similar research, especially in developing countries. The reason for the lack of facilities and financial resources, as well as the time-consuming nature of identifying landslide sensitive areas, should be used. In addition to natural factors, some human factors such as road construction play an important role in the occurrence of landslides, and in order to reduce the relative risks, it is necessary to avoid changing the ecosystem as a driver of natural disasters. In general, it can be stated that the watershed of Karaj Dam has a high potential for landslide susceptibility, that most of the susceptible areas are located near roads, and because there are many human interventions in these areas. Landslide sensitivity has increased. It is suggested to combine geographic information systems with maximum entropy method in order to determine areas with landslide susceptibility, especially in developing countries like Iran, where access to landslide information and data is limited by time and cost. The results of this research can be used in decision-making and preparation of provincial land as well as urban planning and will play a significant role in preventing and reducing damage caused by landslides.

Implementation of watershed management measures in Iran to reduce the damage caused by the misuse of natural resources has begun many years ago and is still ongoing. Evaluating the performance of previous remedial work is essential for better planning of future watershed management projects. In this regard, due to the monitoring of soil loss, runoff and sedimentation at slope and watershed scales, a suitable platform has been provided to assess the effects of watershed management measures.

The Kakhk paired watershed with an area of 217 ha is located at a distance of 300 km from Mashhad City and 35 km southwest of Gonabad City.The Kakhk paired watershed consists of two sub-watershds, the control and the treatment. A series of biological and structural watershed management measures have been implemented in the treatment sub-watershed. While the control sub-watershed is exploited according to the custom of the region. In this research, the impact of different watershed management measures on the soil loss, sediment yield and hydrology in the Kakhk paired watershed were evaluated. For this purpose, the recorded data of suspended sediment and discharge at the watershed scale, as well as the data of soil loss (by standard plots and erosion pins) and runoff (standard plots) were analyzed at the hillslope scale.

The results at plot scale showed that the average annual soil loss of the two treatment and control sub-watersheds is 0.05 and 0.27 ton.ha-1.y-1, respectively. These results indicate that the soil loss in the control sub-watershed is 536% higher than the treatment sub-watershed. The amount of runoff yield in the control sub-watershed was calculated to be 138% more than the treatment sub-watershed. At watershed scale, the results showed that the total amount of suspended sediment output from the control and treatment watersheds is 379 and 85 tons, respectively, which indicates the average specific sediment of 0.4 and 0.1 ton.ha-1 in the control and treatment watersheds, respectively. The volume of runoff in the control sub-watershed is 1.3 times more than treatment sub-watershed. On the other hand, despite the difference between the treatment and control sub-watersheds in soil loss, run-off production and sediment yield, the role of maximum events in soil erosion and runoff production in both sub-watersheds is very significant. So that one to three erosive events in both studied sub-watershes are responsible for more than 80% of the soil loss in the slopes and the production of runoff and sediment yield of watersheds.

The results showed that a total of 136,000 m3 of runoff storage and 294 ton of suspended sediment control were achieved as a result of watershed operations in the treatment sub-watershed. Therefore, it can be stated that the watershed management measures carried out in the treatment sub-watershed on the one hand have reduced soil erosion and runoff production on the slopes compared to the control sub-watershed. This action has been done through increasing the vegetation, increasing the roughness of the land surface, reducing the carrying capacity of the flow and settling the materials being transported. Further, the flow from the slopes enters the waterway and is kept by watershed  management structures, and as a result, the sediment yield and volume of runoff in the treatment sub-watershed is less than the control sub-watershed.

Research on low flow is important, not only from a fundamental point of view but also in terms of sustainable water resource management. Optimum water resources management is one of the most crucial challenges of the 21st century, and due to population growth and climate change, water supply in the future will probably depend on sustainable water sources. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) introduces low flow as a flow of rivers that continues during the dry period of the climate. Low flow is affected by climate changes, topography, geology, soil, and human activities. The geographical location and climatic conditions of Iran cause a lack of rainfall and water scarcity. Therefore, the recognition and analysis of sustainable water resources is the main component in the surface water resources management of Iran. This research has been done with the aim of investigating the characteristics of scientific publications regarding low flow research in Iran and the world and providing a perspective of the current situation and direction of future research.

The data relating to low flow research in environmental; agricultural and biological sciences were retrieved from the Science direct database in the period 1999 to 2022 and SCImago Journal Rank indicator (SJR) from https://www.scimagojr.com as well as scientific information database of Jihad Daneshgahi (SID) and data from Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc). A total of 22875 publications were obtained and with following aspects analysed intensively:(1) Distribution of international low flow-related publications (2) low flow-related publications from Iran; (2) distribution of subject categories; (3) core journals; (4) distribution of Iranian articles related to low flow; (5) frequency of low flow-related articles in Middle East and countries around Iran; (6) research trends. Bibliometric techniques, including citation analysis, five-year impact factor, JCR classification, coverage period and h-index were used to evaluate and interpretation of the results.

The results showed that the general trend of global scientific publications in low-flow research was with a positive slope and a growth rate of 1.52%. Also, the trend of international publications from Iran had a positive slope with a 0.94 coefficient of determination and a growth rate of 1.60%. The results of the subject classification of publications at the global level showed that most publications with 85.75% belong to research papers and the least amount to conference papers and editorials. International papers originating from Iran were of the first order of importance to publications with 90.04%, which has a larger share of the total papers than global papers. The results of the analysis of the most important keywords related to low flow showed that more than 72% of the titles of papers and theses were assigned to "base flow" and "flow duration curve (FDC) keywords ".

This research is a systematic bibliographic analysis of texts related to low flow research publication. By summarizing and analysing the growth curve of publications, it can be concluded that the total number of international publications related to low flow research corresponds to the theoretical fitting line and shows the proportionality of the potential of low flow research in the world with the actual amount. The general result of the analysis of international publications from Iran shows a high potential for low flow research in Iran and indicates a change in the attention of the Iranian scientific community to the publication of articles on the topic of low flow at the international level.

Rivers are known as the vital resources of nature and the main foundations of sustainable development. Therefore, the quantity and quality of river water are considered valuable parameters. The increase in agricultural and industrial activities has reduced the quality of water resources in many places. The discharge of sewage, garbage and chemical fertilizers in the villages along the rivers is one of the most important sources of water quality pollution. The amount of urban and agricultural wastewater entering this surface has caused an increase in the amount of pollutants, so that in the period of 1993 to the end of 2017, the average amounts the three pollutants of total dissolved solid, chlorine and sodium in Varand Station are respectively 507.49, 2.16 and 2.47. Therefore, accurate estimation of water quality parameters is a basic requirement for water quality management, human health, public consumption and domestic use.

Tajan River basin with an area of about 4147.22 square kilometers has an average river discharge and annual rainfall of 20 cubic meters per second and 539 mm respectively. The highest and lowest elevations of this River basin have been reported as 3728 and 26 meters, respectively. Various human activities such as agriculture and dam construction are carried out in this river. Therefore, evaluationg the water quality of this river basin is required. In this research, the combination of two Gene Expression Programming Models (GEP) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with a data preprocessing algorithm called Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) was used to estimate one of the important parameters of water quality called Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). For this purpose, in this research, some of qualitative parameters including sodium, calcium, magnesium, sulfate bicarbonate, sulfuric acid and chlorine, which were measured in the period of 1993 to the end of 2017 at Varand station, were used to estimate the concentration of total dissolved solids.

At first, the results of the observation data during the sampling period indicated that the TDS values in about 80% of the samples were in the range of 300 to 600 mg.liter-1, which reprsented the good quality of the water of this river. In order to compare the performance of independent and integrated approaches in estimating the quality parameters of the Tajan River in the training and testing stages, the evaluation benchmarks including Correlation Coefficient (R), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Deviation of Error (MBE), Nash Coefficient (NSE), Objective Function (OBJ) and RSD ratio were applied. The results of this study demonestrated that the integrated model of Gene Expression Programming and Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD-GEP) with the lowest error (RSD=0.23 and RMSE=24.41) was the most accurate model in TDS estimating compared to other models such as GEP (RSD=0.44 and RMSE=47.27). In addition, the integrated model of Artificial Neural Network and Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD-ANN) with RMSE=36.64 and R=0.95 was stood at the second rank. Additionally, the outcomes of the Objective Function (OBJ) represented that EMD-GEP model could achieved the lowest OBJ value (15.92) than other techniques in the TDS modeling. While, the highest value of the OBJ=29.34 belonged to the GEP model.

ANN and GEP methods were applied in this research to estimate TDS concentarion in the Tajan River. After that, to increase the accuracy of the models, EMD technique was recruited to decompose the time series dataset. The results obtained from the integrated models were evaluated using some error statistical benchmarks such as correlation coefficient, root mean square error. The results showed that the EMD method could play an essential role in increasing the ANN and GEP performance so as to estimate this water quality parameter in Varand station. So that EMD-GEP and EMD-ANN could reduce the RMSE error by 48.35% and 14.02%, respectively, compared to the two independent models of GEP and ANN.

Drought can have serious negative effects on the quality of water needed for irrigated agriculture. The geological formations of the region increase the concentration of minor and rare toxic elements in the waters, and on the other hand, human activities lead to water pollution in the nearby areas. In this research, the effect of drought on the quality of surface water, the effect of various factors such as geological formations and the decrease or increase of rainfall and air temperature on the quality of water resources, how the quality of water changes, determining the limits of water consumption in the drinking sector and agriculture should be paid.

The Tirah River Basin with an area of 3243.6 square kilometers is considered as one of the sub-basins of the Dez River and a subset of the Karun Basin. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standard StreamFlow Index (SSI) and Decimal Index (DI) were used to calculate standard drought indices. Elements and compounds of electrical conductivity (Ec), Total dissolved solids (TDS), pH and Anions of chlorine (Cl-), Sulfate (SO42-), Bicarbonate (HCO3-), Sodium (Na), Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium cations (Mg) were investigated. To draw the pattern of droughts, 3 hydrometric stations of Teng Mohammad Haji (upstream), Rahimabad Silakhor (middle) and Tir-Droud (outlet) stations were tested.

The most severe hydrological droughts with a duration of 2 years and a minimum SSI value of -1.23 in the Teng Mohammad Haji Station in the water years of 2009 and 2010 and the Tir-Droud Station with a duration of 4 years (-1.19) and the Rahimabad Silakhor Station with a duration of 3 years (-1.16) occurred for the water years 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The analysis of discharge and precipitation data of Teir sub-basins showed that between the discharge and precipitation (SPI and SSI) of Tang Mohammadhaji and Rahimabad Stations, there was an average positive correlation at a significant level of 0.05 (R2=0.526). Examining the relationship between annual discharge and water quality parameters showed that there was a negative correlation for most parameters such as TDS, EC, chlorine, the total of anions and cations, so that the maximum concentration of quality parameters occurred in droughts. In Tang Mohammadhaji Station, the highest percentage of changes was related to sodium and chlorine, respectively, with 62.55 and 39.70% in dry years compared to the long-term average. The results of this research showed that the percentage of changes in calcium, magnesium, sodium, carbonate and chloride
 increased in dry years compared to the long-term average in the studied stations in the Tirah River Basin. All the stations in the Tirah Basin have passed the period of relatively dry hydrological drought (-0.84 to -1.28) and none of them have suffered severe hydrological drought.

The analysis of discharge and precipitation data of dark sub-basins shows that between discharge and precipitation (SPI and SSI) of Tang Mohammad Haji Station, which is an upstream sub-basin of dark, there is an average positive correlation at a significant level of 0.05 and in Rahim Abad Station, which is in the middle of the basin It is located in Tire, and according to Pearson, it has a correlation at a significant level of 0.05 at the exit station of Tire basin, no significant correlation is observed between discharge and precipitation variables, which can be caused by snowfall and the persistence of snow in the heights from the previous water year, the construction of Meruk Dam. In the upper part of the basin, as well as the water intake of Bishehdalan Silakhor Wetland in droughts and abundant water harvesting from the Tirah River for agriculture. The upstream basin of Tang Mohammadhaji Station is completely calcareous, which has caused changes in parameters of calcium, TDS, EC, etc. In Rahimabad Silakhor Station and Tire outlet, half of the area of the basin is dedicated to intrusive rocks such as granite and granodiorite, which increases potassium and calcium. In the studied stations in Tirah River Basin, the percentage of changes related to calcium, magnesium and sodium, and carbonate and chlorine anions have increased in dry years compared to the long-term average. In general, it can be concluded that drought can have negative effects on water quality parameters in Tirah River Basin.

In most of the countries of the world, both developed and under-developed, applied and developmental research in various economic and social sectors, including agriculture and natural resources is very important. To implement executive projects based on the results of research over the past years based on predetermined goals, financial, resources and relatively appropriate facilities in the agriculture and natural resources sector, including the watershed sector, have been considered and spent. Nevertheless, it has always been accompanied by many discussions from supporters and opponents. This article is the result of a study to evaluate the effectiveness of watershed management projects implemented based on the results of research in the Chandab Watershed of Tehran Province. which includes effective, flood distribution, rain catchment surface system, catchments, underground dam, water supply channels, flood expansion channels, and sediment catchment in this area. To investigate this issue, research projects based on solving the problems and issues of the study area, and the results in the form of watershed management plans and projects to control runoff and soil erosion, improve the condition of vegetation, and finally improve the economic and social status of watershed residents in the operational area have been implemented.

To investigate this issue, research projects based on solving the problems and issues governing the study area, and their results in the form of watershed management plans and projects to control runoff and soil erosion, improve the condition of vegetation, and finally the improvement of the economic and social status of watershed residents in the region has been operationalized and implemented their identification and effectiveness in achieving the set goals of watershed management have been studied and analyzed from an economic and social point of view. This study is a descriptive and descriptive type, and the data required for the research was collected in the field by filling out the questionnaire from the residents and beneficiaries of the studied watershed and reviewing the financial reports for the expenses incurred. Before completing the questionnaire, its reliability and validity were measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The estimated alpha coefficient was 0.87, which indicates integration and coordination in the framework of the questionnaire. Then, the present value of the cost and income during the period was estimated. The benefit-cost method (B/C), rate of return and profit, satisfaction level, and economic efficiency index have been tested and analyzed.

The results of the research showed that the farmers and villagers living in the studied watershed are fully satisfied with the implementation of the underground dam projects and watershed flood distribution catchments, and the implementation of these projects in the state of the watershed in terms of improving vegetation, control Floods, development of agriculture, animal, husbandry and improvement of income and livelihood of villagers have had significant positive effects. The selected projects implemented are economically and socially effective and have economic and social, justification. Thus, the benefit-cost ratio is estimated at 1.85 units, and the economic efficiency index is at 0.85 units.

The study results show that the watershed projects implemented in the study area are economically and socially effective. From a social, point of view, most of the users living in the studied area are fully satisfied with the implementation of watershed management projects. Considering the economic and social justification of watershed management projects, it is recommended to develop the implementation of watershed management operations in this and other watershed areas. For the local, people to benefit from the achievements of these projects and also to satisfy the local, people from the previous projects, it is suggested that these projects be carried out within the boundaries of the land of the beneficiaries so that the maximum participation of the beneficiaries is realized. To provide the possibility of entrusting the maintenance of watershed operations in watershed areas to the local, people and users with a specific and defined mechanism.

The rainfall system of a major part of Iran is mediterranean, where the precipitation amount during the vegetation period is low. In addition, the occurrence of precipitation in the non-vegetation period or beginning of the vegetation period, which does not cover the surface of the earth well, is one of the important reasons for water erosion in Iran. Since vegetation has a special role in soil erosion control and runoff retention, any change in the vegetation structure and pattern, which expresses the landscape pattern and function, can have a significant effect on changing hydrological processes. Therefore, the assessment of soil and water loss and the quantification of its relationship with landscape metrics provide key information for the development of water and soil quality management strategies.

The current research was conducted to investigate the hydrological component changes with landscape metrics on 2 m2 plots using simulated rainfall at an intensity of 32 mm.h-1 in a part of rangelands of Ardabil County. At first, considering the type and percentage of vegetation as the main variable, eight groups of vegetation composition along with one group without vegetation (control) were considered with three replications. The composition (and percentage) of the vegetation from the first to the eighth groups, respectively, include low-height graminea predominance (45), the composition of dense bushes with graminea (43), bushes with low-height and medium-distribution (37), sparse bushes mostly with low and medium height (31), the composition of sparse bushes with graminea (56), dense bushes in upper parts (54), low-height bushes with very low distribution (15), and dense bushes with almost uniform distribution (56). After measuring the runoff and sediment at the plot outlets, different hydrological components were calculated. Then, plots with nine different vegetation combinations were imaged in three replicates before and after rainfall simulation. After transferring the images prepared from the plots to the Arc/Map10.8 environment, nine important landscape metrics were calculated.

Changes in the mean patch density (4.43-26.90), largest patch index (54.16-86.75), edge density (17.12-107.38), landscape shape index (1.50-4.47), mean shape area (4.16-37.46), mean Euclidean nearest neighbor distance (0.00-1.65), landscape division index (0.19-2.31), mean patch shape index (1.24-22.85), and the effective mesh size (15.80-43.96) indicate their different influence from different percentage and composition of vegetation cover. Spearman's correlation matrix analysis showed a nonsignificant relationship between the mean soil loss, runoff volume, runoff coefficient, and sediment concentration with landscape metrics (r<0.26 and p-value>0.10). The small scale of the studied plots, the lack of diversity in the vegetation composition, and the uniformity in terms of vegetation height can be cited as the reasons for the lack of correlation. In general, groups with vegetation values above 50% had a better condition in terms of LPI, AREA_MN, and MESH, which indicates more connectivity and less degradation. The increase in vegetation cover and spatial heterogeneity above the landscape surface can change the path of sediment transport, reduce sediment connectivity, and lead to a decrease in sedimentation.

The obtained results are applicable in explaining the appropriate reference to optimize water and soil protection measures on the watershed scale. However, It is suggested that similar and more comprehensive research be done in different scales of erosion plots and even in the landscape (slope) scale so that by considering a wide range of vegetation, topography, climatic conditions, as well as successive rains, it is possible to compare the results, optimum selection of study scale, and finally planning to manage and protect vegetation and water and soil resources.

The hills surrounding the international wetlands of Almagol and Ajigol in the Golestan Province are exposed to severe erosion and every year a large amount of sediments from these hillslopes discharge into these wetlands. Whilst a large extent of these surrounding hills, covered with Biological Soil Crusts (BSC), has been destroyed due to lack of awareness of their values, sensitivity and ecological functions. Improving soil properties, preventing direct contact of raindrops with the soil surface, all indicate the important role of BSC in hydrological processes and soil loss control.

In this study, the role of BSC in the hydrological processes of dry areas was investigated using a rain simulator. After a field survey and evaluation of the area, different treatments including biological crust with a dominant lichen cover, biological crust with a dominant moss cover, an area covered with vascular plants, an area without cover and areas covered with a combination of moss and lichen were selected to perform rain simulation and compare their effects on the hydrological processes of the selected region. Rain simulation was done in 2×1 meter plots for 30 minutes and intensity of 82 mm per hour. The start time of runoff and the volume of produced runoff at the outlet of the plot were measured and recorded. Also, at five-minute intervals from the beginning of the simulation process, 500 ml runoff samples were collected and transferred to the laboratory for testing in order to estimate the sediment concentration and mass. In addition, the depth of the wetting front caused by the infiltration of rain was measured at the beginning, middle and end sections of the plots.

The results of rainfall-runoff simulations at a 2×1 m2 plot scale with a rainfall intensity of 82 mm.h-1 and a duration of 30 minutes plots, showed that the average mass of sediments from plots with the dominant cover of moss (104 g), lichen (91 g), lichen-moss combination (176 g) and bush (99 g) was significantly higher than bare soil (1133 grams). Therefore, in case of destruction of the existing BSC and the formation of bare lands, the sedimentation rate will increase by more than 5 times. A significant decrease in water infiltration into BSC causes a significant increase of 30-40% in runoff generation compared to the treatment covered with bushes and a significant increase of 8-18% compared to the bare soil treatment.

by reducing soil loss and sediment concentration, BSC cause the production and transfer of high-quality runoff to the wetlands and as a result maintain the ecological function and health of the region’s wetlands. The results of this research show the positive influence of BSC on the hydrological and ecological performance of arid areas in the north of Gorgan Plain and protection of Ramsar-listed wetlands in the region.

SWAT model is a suitable tool for simulating hydrological processes. This model requires many inputs that often cannot be measured directly and is considered one of the main sources of uncertainty in these models. The recalibration process can reduce the uncertainty in the model results by adjusting and adapting these inputs. The researches showed that calibrating a hydrological model by using the common automatic CV calibrating algorithms will not provide proper accuracy in the prediction of hydrological variables during the validation period, so PSO algorithm was used to calibrate the SWAT model. Since there is no mathematical and logical rule to determine the best combination of PSO algorithm parameters and these combinations are selected based on trial and error and among many different combinations, therefore trial and error based methods are very time-consuming and sometimes impossible. In this research, Taguchi method was used to determine the best combination of PSO algorithm parameters.

In this research, the ability to use the SWAT model to simulate monthly runoff in the Javanmardi Watershed, one of the main sub-basins of the Lordegan Watershed with an area of 380 square kilometers, was investigated. In this study, the PSO algorithm parameters, including the number of simulations (A), the number of repetitions (B), the speed calculation weight (C) and the movement parameter (D), were defined in four levels. Then, these parameters were designed and implemented according to the experiments in the L16 orthogonal array (using the Taguchi experiments design method). The performance scale used to evaluate the algorithms was RPD (Relative Percentage Deviation). Considering the variable nature of the response in this study, the S/N index "the lower the better" was used to analyze the Taguchi test results. The selection of arrays and calculations were done in Minitab 16 software.

In the sensitivity analysis stage, which was performed before the model recalibration, among the 28 parameters studied in this research, the model showed sensitivity to the changes of 22 parameters, and they were identified as variables influencing the simulation of runoff in Javanmardi Watershed. The results showed that the parameter of the runoff curve number (CN) is the most important factor and the parameters of soil apparent density in the wet state (SOL_BD) and average water usable by the plant (SOL_AWC) are among the most important factors controlling the flow rate in the study basin, respectively. Based on the results simulated by the PSO algorithm, it was found that the SWAT model has an acceptable accuracy for estimating the monthly runoff in the study area. So, in the recalibration phase, the r-factor and p-factor indices were 1.23 and 0.88, respectively, and the explanatory and Nash-Sutcliffe coefficients were 0.77 and 0.75, respectively. In the validation stage, the r-factor and p-factor indexes were 1.31 and 0.84, respectively and the explanatory and Nash-Sutcliffe coefficients were 0.72 and 0.73, respectively. In this study, the best combination resulting from the application of Taguchi method for the parameters of the number of simulations, the number of repetitions, the speed calculation weight and the appropriate parameters in the PSO algorithm were determined as 40, 100, 0.2 and 0.15 respectively (A4B4C4D3).

The results show that the SWAT model has an acceptable accuracy for estimating the monthly runoff in the Jawanmardi Watershed, and the PSO method is an effective algorithm in calibrating and determining the uncertainty of the model in this basin, and the use of the Taguchi test design method is a suitable way to determine the best combination of PSO algorithm parameters is for researchers who use this method to optimize the SWAT model.

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the most important factors in the hydrological cycle and is a key determinant of energy equations on the earth’s surface. evapotranspiration estimates are important for hydrology, irrigation, forest and rangeland, and water resources management. The evapotranspiration drives the soil water-energy balance which is largely used in general circulation models and climate modelling. Consequently, river water flow forecasting, crop yield forecasting, irrigation management systems, river/lake water quality are all dependent on evapotranspiration levels. For this reason, it is essential to accurately estimate the water budget. Numerous models have been developed to estimate evapotranspiration using remote sensing methods. The review of recent research shows that remote sensing and the use of satellite images have a high ability to estimate the amount of actual evapotranspiration.

The aim of this study is calibrating the METRIC algorithm in estimating evapotranspiration in the Sohrin-Qaracheryan Plain, which is affected by flood spreading. This method has been used by many researchers around the world to estimate evapotranspiration. On the other hand, estimating the actual evapotranspiration is of great importance in the plains affected by the flood, especially in the Sohrin-Qaracherian Plain’s flood spreading. Therefore, in this research was conducted to estimate evapotranspiration using the metric algorithm in the Sohrin-Qaracherian Plain, for the optimization management of water resources in the region and regions with similar conditions. In this research, were used of the daily and hourly meteorological data of Zanjan Airport synoptic station from 2020 to 2021. These the data included minimum and maximum temperature, minimum and maximum humidity, wind speed average, sunshine hours and air pressure. To check the application of metric algorithm, were downloaded Landsat 8 images for 2020-2021 years and were done necessary corrections and preprocessing on them. Landsat images are available at 16-day intervals with a spatial resolution of 30 m and were obtained from the United States Geological Survey website (http://glovis.usgs.gov). After the images processing, is obtained the albedo, surface emissivity, land surface temperature, plant indicators, incoming-outgoing radiation fluxes, net radiation flux and the soil heat flux. Next, the sensible heat flux is calculated by determining the hot and cold pixels. Finally, evapotranspiration maps are plotted. In addition, for a better comparison of the results, were compared of the layers related to vegetation index include soil heat flux and land surface temperature in the different stages of the growth period. After extracting these indices, the evapotranspiration map was extracted using ENVI software.

Results show that daily evapotranspiration increases is directly related with increase in vegetation density. at the initial of the growth period, the range of evapotranspiration is estimated between 0.08 and 4.97 mm.d-1, while this value in the middle and late of the growing season is estimated in the range of 0.086 to 5.56 and 0.59 to 9.57 mm.d-1 respectively. Based on the results of this research evapotranspiration obtained from the soil water balance model and METRIC model were estimated as 24115 and 25648 m3, respectively. The results validation of evapotranspiration obtained from the metric model was compared with the actual evaporation and transpiration obtained from the soil water balance model, and the error coefficient was obtained equal to 5.97%.

According to the results of this research, it was determined that the use of energy balance models using the science of remote sensing provides the possibility of estimating evaporation and transpiration regionally. On the other hand, the calculation error percentage shows that the metric algorithm is accurate enough to estimate ET in the studied area.