PASICHNYK MYKOLA, HRYHORIICHUK VITALII HIGH-RESOLUTION DIGITAL HYDROGRAPHIC MODEL OF A SMALL AGRICULTURAL CATCHMENT: AN OPEN-SOURCE GIS INVENTORY FOR THE SOVYTSIA KITSMANSKA RIVER BASIN (UKRAINE)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2306-5680.2025.4.2
Hydrology, Hydrochemistry and Hydroecology. 2025. № 4(78)
Publication language: English
Authors:
Pasichnyk Mykola, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
Hryhoriichuk Vitalii, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
The article presents a reproducible GIS-based approach for producing high-resolution digital hydrography for a small lowland catchment subject to substantial agricultural transformation, demonstrated for the Sovytsia Kitsmanska River basin (Ukraine) within the Prut River catchment. The objective was to obtain a consistent vector stream network and derived morphometric metrics suitable for subsequent hydrological and hydromorphological assessments. Copernicus DEM (30 m) was used as the primary elevation dataset and processed in SAGA GIS 9.8 (Terrain Analysis – Hydrology) to derive Flow Accumulation, generate an initial stream network, and refine catchment boundaries (Watershed Basins). Subsequent desktop verification and editing were performed in QGIS 3.34.10 using Sentinel-2 L2A imagery (True Color) and online basemaps (including OpenStreetMap and Visicom) as independent sources for spatial cross-checking. To ensure methodological consistency, a conservative classification rule for temporary streams was applied and a working definition of a temporary watercourse was adopted as a non-perennial channel with seasonal or episodic flow discontinuity, consistent with contemporary terminology (intermittent/ephemeral). All network elements were organized into unified vector layers: perennial streams (hydro_ln_streams_perennial), temporary streams (hydro_ln_streams_temporary), and a technical layer representing the channel axis through ponds (hydro_ln_perennial_axis_ponds), which ensured topological connectivity and unbiased length accounting. According to QGIS measurements, the basin area is approximately 271.40 km²; the total length of perennial streams is 137.274 km, temporary streams 45.338 km, and the additionally accounted channel axes within ponds 62.571 km. Consequently, drainage density is about 0.90 km/km² when pond axes are included and about 0.67 km/km² under a conventional approach that ignores pond-covered channel segments. The contribution of network components to total length is strongly uneven: perennial streams account for about 56.0%, temporary streams for 18.5%, and impounded channel segments represented by axes for 25.5%, which substantially affects the interpretation of morphometric indicators in catchments with numerous regulated reaches. The resulting hydrographic geodatabase provides a robust spatial baseline for further analyses of runoff organization, anthropogenic pressures, and basin-scale water-management decision support.
Key words: high-resolution hydrography; small agricultural catchment; QGIS; SAGA GIS; Copernicus DEM; Sentinel-2; drainage density.
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HOW TO CITE
Pasichnyk, Mykola, Hryhoriichuk, Vitalii (2025). High-resolution digital hydrographic model of a small agricultural catchment: an open-source GIS inventory for the Sovytsia Kitsmanska River basin (Ukraine). Hidrolohiia, hidrokhimiia i hidroekolohiia [Hydrology, Hydrochemistry and Hydroecology], 4(78), 12-27. (in English, abstr. in Ukrainian). https://doi.org/10.17721/2306-5680.2025.4.2