Identification of Homogenous Watershed Basins for Estimating Soil Erosion and Sediment Yield Applying Different Methods of Cluster Analysis (Case study: North Alborz)

Identification of homogenous watershed sub basins allows generalization of environmental study results. For this purpose, first available data for 27 selected watersheds in North Alborz regarding 21 variables including physiographic and climatic characteristics was gathered. The most important factors impacting upon soil erosion and sediment yield were equivalent rectangular length, mean annual precipitation, rock susceptibility, aspect and drainage density which were identified using factor analysis (Principle Component Analysis : PCA) and a 80.72 percent variation of data was observed (KMO =0.516). For determination of homogenous region, different methods of cluster analysis (hierarchical, K-means and two step clustering) were used and three homogeneous regions were specified. Discriminant function analysis was employed and confirmed the results of cluster analysis in homogenous region. On the other hand, based on these five factors, a discriminant function was defined and canonical correlation, chi-square, wilks’ lambda values revealed that three homogenous regions were quite separate.