Three broad categories
- Watershed Metrics
- Stream Network Metrics
- Topographic Methods
Watershed methods consist of what? (4)
- Area
- Shape
- Drainage Pattern
- Density
Stream network metrics consist of what? (3)
- Stream order
- Longitudinal profiles
- Planform Profiles
Topographic metrics consist of what? (2)
- Relief
2. Slope
relief is _____ proportional to area
inversely
Drainage networks tend to form _______ patterns
dendritic
Why dendritic pattern?
Efficient
Nine stream patterns given
- Dendritic
- Radial
- Centripetal
- Rectangular
- Pinnate
- Trellis
- Parallel
- Distributary
- Annular
Example of a radial stream
Mount Ranier
Example of a centripetal stream
Great Salt Lake
Example of a parallel stream
Wasatch Front Utah
Example of a distributary stream
Okavango Delta
Example of a trellis stream
Great Smoky Mountains
How can we measure complex drainage systems?
- Stream Ordering
- Bifurcation Ratios
- Segment length Ratios
- Drainage Area Ratios
Why are watershed ratios so important?
Scale invariant
Two stream order methods
- Shrave (numbers too high)
2. Strahler (Horton) Method
Stream length is ______ related to stream order
directly
Number of streams is ______ related to stream order
inversely??
Bifurcation Ratio
Rb= lower stream order/ higher stream order
segment length ______ downstream
increases
Bifurcation ratios typically vary between
3-5
segment length ratio
RL= higher order/lower order
segment length ratio varies between
1.5-3
Drainage area ration _______ downstream
increases
