Title: Evaluating the impact of changes in land cover and climate variability on streamflow trends (case study: eastern subbasins of Lake Urmia, Iran)

Authors: Farshad Fathian; Zohreh Dehghan; Saeid Eslamian

Addresses: Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471, Tabriz, Iran ' Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156-83111, Isfahan, Iran ' Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156-83111, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the land cover change in the eastern subbasins of Lake Urmia basin through classification and statistical analyses. Results of land cover classification analysis indicated that 41.4% and 27.2% of the study area was covered by pasture land in 1976 and 2011, respectively. This significant decrease in pasture land is mainly due to the expansion of agricultural land. So that, the crop land, horticultural land and rainfed land have increased during last 35 years by 412% 333% and 672%, respectively. Trend analysis showed a significant increasing temperature trend throughout the region and an area-specific precipitation trend. The trend tests also confirmed a general decreasing trend in region streamflows that was more pronounced in the downstream stations. Finally, correlation between streamflow changes with simultaneous changes in climatic variables and land cover showed streamflow are more sensitive to changes in land cover than temperature.

Keywords: land cover change; remote sensing; streamflow change; trend analysis; Lake Urmia basin; climate variability; case study; Iran; pasture land; crop land; horticultural land; rainfed land; temperature increase.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHST.2016.073881

International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology, 2016 Vol.6 No.1, pp.1 - 26

Received: 07 Jan 2015
Accepted: 05 Jun 2015

Published online: 28 Dec 2015 *

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