SIMULATION OF THE RUNOFF HYDROGRAPH BY SRM SUPPORTED BY GIS AND REMOTE SENSING (KAYSERI-SARIZ CREEK WATERSHED CASE STUDY)

The significant part of annual runoff volume of the basins located at high altitudes with great snow potential is produced by melting of the accumulated snow in spring months. Modeling of hydrograph accumulation during melting seasons of snow is important for the operation of water resources as efficient and sustainable as possible. In this study, the simulation of hydrographs of Sariz Creek watershed in Seyhan Basin was studied for the snow melting seasons (March-April) of 2004 and 2005. Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM), which is widely used in hydrological modeling, was applied together with Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies for determination of snowmelt runoff volume. SRM requires some daily climatologic variables of temperature, precipitation and snow covered area. Daily snow covered area values were determined by analyzing of MODIS satellite images with GIS. In the simulation studies, two cases were assessed. Solution has been provided as two alternatives. The simulated and observed hydrographs were compared and found in harmony. To make better and more reliable models, some improvements starting from the field observation are proposed.