Importance of using space information and GIS technologies in the process of selecting analogue terrains in hydrological research

Abstract

The research is devoted to the wider application of GIS technologies in hydrological
studies, especially in the assessment of water resources of rivers. Runoff formation
is a very complex process that occurs under the influence of multiple factors. Studies
show that the more flow-forming factors that are considered in the assessment
process, the more accurate and reliable the results are. The practice of studying
water resources based on the analogy of observed and unobserved river basins is a
widespread approach in hydrology. Previously, analogies created on the basis of one
or several predictors did not allow to obtain reliable results in the selection of
analogue terrains. Modern scientific innovations have enabled more detailed
analysis and modeling of runoff-forming processes. With our proposed method,
analog geospaces are selected based on the similarity of most components through
space information, and assessment is performed using GIS and other multifunctional
technologies. Another advantage of the assessment with the new method is the
ability to easily restore climate and runoff data for unobserved and extreme regions.
Thus, on the basis of basins with hydrometeorological data, it is possible to estimate
the water resources of any other unstudied rivers with high accuracy without timespace restrictions. Comparison of the actual and calculated by the proposed method
of runoff for most of the river basins of Azerbaijan shows that the error between
them was up to 10% in 92 cases out of 100.