TITLE:
GIS-Based Morphometric Analysis of Fourth-Order Sub-Basins of the Zerqa River (Northern Jordan) Using Multivariate Statistical Techniques
AUTHORS:
Yahya Farhan, Ibtisam Elmaji, Osama Khalil
KEYWORDS:
Morphometry, ASTER DEM, Principal Component Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Zerqa River, Jordan
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.7 No.8,
August
12,
2016
ABSTRACT: The present study attempts to examine the morphometric characteristics and relationships of 43 fourth-order sub-basins over the Zerqa River watershed, using ASTER DEM, GIS and multivariate statistics. To achieve these objectives, Principal Component Analysis was utilized to reduce the 26 parameters into six major components which accounted for 79.3% of the total variance explained by the original morphometric variables. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (CA) (Ward’s method) has been applied to classify the 43 sub-basins based on different types of morphometric parameters. Four groups of sub-watersheds were identified and characterized by different morphometric properties. The patterns of spatial distribution of cluster groups were determined based on lithological, structure and tectonics, uplifting, and rejuvenation processes.