Model Land Cover Index – Peak Discharge in Management of River Basin

Abstract

A change of the characteristic of a river basin's component could transform the behaviour of the basin as a whole. In some parts of Indonesia, the land-use changes from forest into settlement, industry, and farming increase the risk of flooding. Therefore, it is important to understand the correlation between the changes of various land uses and runoff discharge in a river basin. This study makes an attempt to formulate the relation between the land-use change indexes and run-off discharge, i.e. the correlation between the changes in the index of covered land in a river basin and the change in the peak run-off discharge. The peak discharge is computed with HEC-HMS software, developed by the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) and US Army Corps of Engineers, which computes the run-off discharge from the precipitation. As for the land cover index (LCI), it is defined as the sum of the land-use index (LUI). The result of the case study in the Beringin river basin (Indonesia) shows the strong correlation between the change in the land cover index and the change in the run-off discharge with such a relation: DQ = -4E -05 DLCI 2 + 0.0788 DLCI + 6.6187 or DLCI = 0.25 DQ 2 + 6.24 DQ -47.40. DQ is defined as the change in the run-off discharge and DLCI is the change in the land cover index.

The Dynamics of Land Cover Change and Causal Factors in the Kuranji Watershed

“…Previous researchers also conveyed the impact caused by changes in land cover. [13] stated that changes in forest land cover to build up land and agriculture can increase flood discharge.…”