Research activities
Research activities in the SCWMRD focus on a variety of disciplines. We highlighted some them below:
 Watershed management |
 Soil erosion & conservation |
Hydrology, hydraulic & river engineering
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GIS and remote sensing
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 Natural disasters |
 Rainwater harvesting systems |
1. Watershed management
A watershed is a geographical area drained by a watercourse. Because soils and vegetation are intimately linked to the water cycle, watersheds are the most useful planning unit for integrated water and land resource management. The SCWMRD has showed that watershed services and functions often threatened by deforestation, uncontrolled timber harvesting, land use changes, overgrazing, road construction, pollution, and the invasion of alien plants.
Watershed management is aimed at land and water resources, and is applied to an area of land that drains to a defined location along a stream or river. Our watershed management strategies aim to care for natural resources in a way that supports human needs for water, food, fiber, energy, and habitation, while supporting other agreed attributes linked to recreation, esthetics, and/or ecologic function. Because of these multidisciplinary concerns, the development of watershed-management strategies can involve complex scientific and public policy issues. Watershed management requires a long-term commitment that is adaptive to changes in population, climate, culture, and resource-use demands. These issues are unique to each watershed and each nation.
SCWMRD’s members have done several research projects related to watershed management strategies toward efficient watershed management that emphasizes sustainable development goals. In our research plans, we pay particular attention to watershed elements to enhance or at least keep natural functions and ecosystem services. In fact, we consider watersheds as a primary and essential component of geo-environmental planning. We aim to conserve the water, soil, and plant resources of watersheds while benefiting humanity. The SCWMRD always tries to stablish a basis for developing useful strategies within watersheds that is through understanding how threshold behavior in hydrological and environmental systems can be exploited to achieve or regain stability.
2. Soil erosion & conservation
Awareness due to the increased stress on natural resources, resulting in soil erosion, urges the SCWMRD and scientific community to recognize the origins of the problem and to propose practical solutions to restore ecosystem or to mitigate land degradation. Through our cutting edge soil erosion knowledge and services, our department is enabling a sustainable, resilient and productive future for our region, Iran, and the world. All projects related to soil erosion and conservation need detailed field visiting, sampling, and measurements. It depends on soil erosion forms and types to use which methods including total station survey, differential global positioning system (DGPS), aerial photographs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and satellite images. Soil samples are transported to laboratory to analyze physical and chemical characteristics. Soil erosion databases provide vital information for monitoring, modeling, and developing new frameworks for soil erosion control.
Soil erosion is recognized as the most common land degradation processes in Kurdistan province. Overgrazing and land use change are the main leading factors that increase soil erosion rate. Our department has been working on gully erosion in the east of Kurdistan province. Gullies are deep channels eroded by the concentration of flowing water and removal of upland soil that occur most frequently on weathered soils, relatively weak bedrock or unconsolidated slope deposits. In fact, gully erosion has been known as the most destructive land degradation process that drastically increase sediment yield. Since gully erosion processes are closely interrelated with geo-environmental management, SCWMRD tries to identify negative human interventions and suggest appropriate land-use and land management practices can be critical for soil conservation and rehabilitation. The following field photograph is an evidence of sever gully erosion in Kurdistan province:
We have measured soil erosion rate, sediment yield, and runoff coefficient for different vegetation types and densities. One of our field plots for conducting research on soil erosion and sediment rates as well as the efficiency of reclamation treatments. They are used to investigate the hydro-geomorphological processes related to soil erosion.
3. Hydrology, hydraulic & river engineering
Since hydrology affect human life, wildlife and plants communities in watersheds as well as soil erosion and sediment transport, SCWMRD pays attention to study hydrological functions and processes through observed data (e.g., discharge, evaporation, rainfall, soil moisture, etc.), statistical analysis and modeling. Some of our studies focus on flooding that has been generally known as the most obvious hydrologic factor that affects physical and biological components of watersheds. We have also analyzed natural processes of rainfall-runoff, drought, and sediment transport in watersheds. Furthermore, some of projects aimed to assess the efficiency of soil and water conservation measures such as check dams in watershed management.
Our research activities on hydraulic and river engineering focus on research and education related to hydraulic structures interfering with the flow in rivers and waterways. We are interested in physical and numerical modeling of sediment, local, and general scour at hydraulic structures such as bridge piers, spillways, and check dams.
4. GIS and remote sensing
Remote sensing (RS) is a science, focusing on detecting and monitoring the physical characteristics of an area by measuring its reflected and emitted radiation at a distance (typically from satellite or aircraft). Remote-sensing instruments are often categorized as having either active or passive sensors. An active sensor generates its own signal which is subsequently measured when reflected back by the Earth’s surface. A passive sensor measures solar energy that is either reflected or emitted from features on the Earth’s surface. RS helps researchers "sense" things about the Earth and enhances management strategies, specially in large regions. It enables data-informed decision making based on the current and future state of watersheds. Although satellite images can aid in resource management decisions and disaster assessment, the imagery just needs to be interpreted. Maps or imagery can also be integrated into a geographical information system (GIS) and then each pixel can be compared with other GIS data.
We apply GIS and RS techniques to manage and analyze location-based information and maps in our projects. GIS and RS platforms allow us to link databases and maps to create dynamic displays. We also could couple GIS/RS with artificial intelligence approaches including machine learning, data-mining, and statistical models. In our projects, satellite images are used as they can provide useful data, and specialized capabilities for manipulating, analyzing, and visualizing those images. Both passive and active sensors are applied in monitoring land surface dynamics. Remote sensing productions and their applications are various and we utilize them depends on the need. The most common applications are land use and vegetation mapping, soil moisture monitoring, spatio-temporal flood dynamic, gully erosion and landslide detection, ground subsidence monitoring, and wildfire mapping. Therefore, satellite images provide vital information for both natural resource management and natural disaster mitigation. One of the current remote sensing-based projects in our department is soil moisture mapping. This project needs several ground-truth data for calibration and analysis of images. Some field photographs of soil sampling for determining the amount of soil moisture in laboratory can be seen below:
5. Natural disasters
Kurdistan province has experienced different natural disasters such as landslides, floods, land subsidence, drought, wildfire, and snow avalanches. Both anthropogenic and natural factors affect natural disaster occurrences. People suffered from these events and sometimes these disasters cause substantial destruction of physical infrastructures and also hundreds of injuries and deaths. We have used different types of models based on artificial intelligence, statistical, and data-mining approaches. GIS and remote sensing techniques significantly support models. Models allow to determine the role of disasters-influential factors and predict the disaster susceptibility. In turn, these achievements enhance management strategies and improve efficiency of natural disaster plans. Some field photographs of natural disasters occurred in Kurdistan province can be seen below:
6. Rainwater harvesting systems
One of the innovative techniques for managing rainfall water is rainwater harvesting systems. The collected water can be utilized for consumption, irrigation, and many other purposes. The rainwater harvesting systems have widely been used in arid and semi-arid environments in response to severe drought, increased water demands, public awareness of the environmental impacts of storm water runoff, and increased interest in green building practices, which support smart water use. SCWMRD is one of the pioneer research centers in stablishing a research platform for determining the efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems and has presented several completed projects in Saral research station. We observed that rainwater harvesting systems significantly support an abandoned rangeland and could rehabilitate it by supplying water demand of trees and plants. Based on the achievements, water supply is the primary concern during drought periods, especially in locations where water supply infrastructure is lacking, and implementation of rainwater harvesting systems offers a unique set of benefits.
Current projects in SCWMRD:
- Estimation of soil volume loss due to gully erosion using machine learning models and introduction of the most appropriate model
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis of long-term hydrometric data and sedimentation of identical and paired watersheds in the country
- The effect of climate change due to natural and human factors on water resources in Siminehroud and Zarrinehroud basins
- Investigation of the effects of structural operations on changes in waterway bed and flow pattern (Khor Khoreh basin)
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis of erosion, runoff, soil and vegetation data in 12 identical and paired basins of the country
- The role of virtual water and water productivity in water resources management in agriculture (flow project)
- Updating the water requirement of crops and orchards using FAO 56 one-component plant coefficient method
- Determination of climatically susceptible growing areas of pistachio using modeling in GIS environment
- Evaluation of Landsat 8 Satellite Data Efficiency in Estimating Soil Surface Moisture, Case Study of Sanandaj Valley Cattle Basin
- Distribution of carbon to topsoil in plant types of summer rangelands (Sanandaj Chehelgazi watershed)
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