The paper includes in the first stage an estimate of the runoff volume and sediment load,
resulting from rainfall on a watershed of Alkhoser seasonal river, north-eastern Mosul
city/Republic of Iraq, which has an area of up to 725 km2. There is a p
roposal for construction of
a rainwater harvesting dam for the supplementary irrigation in the region which is exploited by
planting wheat and barley crop widely. Digital elevation model (DEM) was adopted in order to
describe the topography of the region, which is one of the main factors affecting the water flow
direction and velocity. It also adopted the daily data of rainfall, maximum and minimum
temperature, for the period 1989 to 2007 for Mosul to estimate the volume of runoff and
sediments resulting from each effective rainstorm. The applied model includes the Geographical
Information System (GIS).
This study concentrates the use of remote sensing and geographic
information systems to identify prospective areas for water
harvesting, This study concentrates on the identification of the
potential areas for water harvesting projects in Hessia a
nd the
adjacent areas, within a total area of 1300 km2.
The data and information for the study area are collected from
different sources and satellite images. The thematic maps and
digital database were prepared through analysis and visual and
automatic interpretation of satellite images, and analysis and
intersections between different layers were procedure in order to
apply the criteria that are used in these studies to determine
optimal and typical sites for the establishment of preparation water
harvesting.
The result of this study shows the efficiency of using the remote
sensing techniques and the geographic information system in the
identification of the potential areas for water harvesting projects.