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Runoff and geomorphic properties of North Carolina Rivers

Runoff and geomorphic properties of North Carolina Rivers. Michael Kanarek Jackson School of Geosciences. Location. The Broad and French Broad rivers originate in western North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains, respectively.

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Runoff and geomorphic properties of North Carolina Rivers

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  1. Runoff and geomorphic properties of North Carolina Rivers Michael Kanarek Jackson School of Geosciences

  2. Location • The Broad and French Broad rivers originate in western North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains, respectively The French Broad River in Henderson County, N.C. Wikipedia.org

  3. Broad River • Originates in Buncombe County, N.C., and flows for 150 miles • Merges with the Saluda River in Columbia, S.C., to form the Congaree River Wikipedia.org

  4. French Broad River • Flows for 213 miles from Transylvania County, N.C., to Knoxville, TN, where it merges with the Holston River, forming the start of the Tennessee River • Flows through greater topography than Broad River • Upper French Broad watershed is ~ 4868 km2 Wikipedia.org

  5. Data acquisition • DEMs and hydrographic data acquired from the USGS’ National Map Viewer • Precipitation and discharge data retrieved from the USGS’ National Water Information System (NWIS)

  6. Data processing • 9 individual 1/3 arcsecond DEMs in GeoTIFF format were stitched together using the Mosaic to New Raster tool in ArcGIS

  7. Data processing • The Extract by Mask tool was used to clip the new DEM to just the watershed • The Fill tool in the Spatial Analyst toolbox was used to remove small imperfections in the data • Here high elevations in the Upper French Broad River watershed are symbolized in reds and oranges, low elevations in blues

  8. Hypsometry • One goal is to evaluate hypsometry, the relationship between elevation and land area, in the watershed • Can use data from DEMs to generate curve for a watershed • Higher elevations with steeper slopes generate more runoff Marshak, "Earth - Portrait of the Planet" 2nd ed.

  9. Runoff ratio • The fraction of precipitation that becomes streamflow • w = Q / P, where Q is streamflow and P is precipitation • Near Fletcher, N.C., w = .293 • At Asheville, N.C., w = .358 • At Marshall, N.C., w = .429

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