فهرست مطالب علی اکبر داودی راد

Herein, the stability of the Zarandieh-Saveh aquifer was investigated, based on field monitoring data and simulation. It was simulated involving GMS software and calibrated and vitrificated in both steady-state and unsteady-state conditions, for 84 monthly steps(2012 to 2022). The values of Aquifer Sustainability(AS) and Groundwater Dependence(DG) indices calculated equal to 31.1% and 0.78%, respectively, which shows the aquifer is in a critical condition and the region is highly dependent on groundwater. According to the Groundwater Damping Index(GDR), with the continuation of the present extraction process, the aquifer will be completely discharged in the next 53 years. The scenario of 20% reduction in annual extraction as the most appropriate scenario will result a rise equal 4 meters in ten years. The operation of the seasonal floods artificial recharging project has had a significant effect on improving the level of this aquifer. The interbasin transfer and recharging scenario of Al-Ghadir Dam overflow have a positive and significant effect on the groundwater level equal to 0.75 meters per year. Based on the results, the parameters and factors affecting the balancing of the Zarandieh aquifer, the first priority is to reduce the exploitation and then increase of recharging from the Al-Ghadir dam overflow site, which can have significant effects on the stability of this aquifer.

Erosion and sediment transport is an important river phenomenon and is very important for river engineering and management projects. The morphological changes that occur due to the construction of cross structures in the flow path are the response of the river to establishing a balance between erosion and sedimentation. Therefore, the reaction of the river should be evaluated before any structure is built along the river. In the current study, the hydraulic conditions of the river in a 5 km long path from the Kabudkamer River in Zarand Saveh in Central Province before and after the construction of hydraulic structures in the flow path were modeled using the geometric data of 200 cross sections in the HEC-RAS software. Hydraulic parameters such as water level, water surface width, flow velocity, bed shear stress, Froude number, hydraulic depth, and velocity were evaluated before and after device construction. The results showed that in the case of creating a structure and obstruction, the flow speed decreases as the flow approaches the dam, while after passing over the dam, the flow speed increases. Therefore, in this case, the erosion will increase after the overpass. In the absence of a barrier, the flow speed was almost constant before reaching the section with an overpass in the blocked state, but after passing this section, the flow speed increased. The construction of gabion dams in river basins has reduced the peak flow of floods with different return periods. As the return period increases, their effect on the reduction and control of floods decreases.

In this study, the accuracy of the Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) in integrating with the Gray Wolf Algorithm (ANFIS-GWO) in predicting groundwater level was evaluated for the first time using unpublished observational data from 1998 to 2018 in the Zarandieh aquifer, central Iran. Three observational wells were randomly selected for analysis. Assessment of evaluation criteria demonstrated that among the proposed scenarios using the hybrid model, the D scenario was selected as the optimal scenario with input data including the previous month's groundwater level, precipitation, temperature, and groundwater extraction. In the D scenario, parameters including MAPE, RMSE, and NASH were 0.29 m, 0.47 m, and 0.99, respectively for the first observational well. Also, C scenario with input data including the previous month's groundwater level, precipitation, and groundwater extraction for the second observational well, for the same parameters mentioned above equal to 0.20 m, 0.26 m, and 0.99. As well for the third observational well, the A scenario with input data including the previous month's groundwater level for the same parameters equal to 0.29 m, 0.41 m, and 0.99 as the optimal scenarios were selected using the ANFIS-GWO model. Based on the results, the Gray wolf algorithm in training the ANFIS model was able to reduce the average forecast error by equal to 0.03 (RMSE) and 0.02 (MAPE) meter and increased the average NASH value equal to 0.01 and increased the accuracy of predictions.

Gully erosion found to be typical erosion form in semiarid and arid landscape. Because of the importance of this phenomenon, various studies have been conducted around the world to assess gully erosion and its effects. The purpose of this research was accuracy assessment of gully erosion susceptibility maps using SVM and MARS models in the Shazand watershed. Acquiring information about the gully erosion occurred in the study area was done. Locations of the gullies were specified using Landsat satellite images, google earth and field surveys. After gully erosion susceptibility mapping using mentioned models, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to assess accuracy of these maps. The AUC for the SVM and MARS models obtained 0.781 and 0.697 respectively. Results of accuracy assessment show that accuracy of SVM and MARS models is located into the good and moderate class respectively. The research results can be a useful tool to manage natural resources and environment and also reduction of soil degradation.

The lack of water in arid and semi-arid areas has become a serious crisis, endangering living conditions. Sloping lands in the geographical and natural areas of Central Province have always been critical areas as sources of sediment production and erosion. Meanwhile, these areas provide valuable capacity for productive employment and conservation of water and soil resources through the construction of rain gardens in sloping lands with the help of rain catchment systems in the province. For this purpose, the amount and volume of annual rainfall, flood depth and discharge for different return periods, slope map, distribution of slope classes to the surface, and Curve number (CN) of the watershed for different return periods were obtained. Then, the development potential of rainfed gardens in the low yielding and sloping rainfed fields of Kabodkamar watershed in Adramand village was analyzed with the help of rain catchment systems. The results showed that, according to the slope and rocky nature of the area, the annual rainfall, depth and volume of runoff, and retention coefficient, the form of waterways, hydrological coefficients of the sub-watersheds, the area has the potential to use for rain catchment surface systems. In addition, considering the habitat and agro-ecological capacity of the region, water and soil resources, as well as the topography and geometry of the mentioned lands, the development of rainfed gardens is considered a key way to increase production and create employment along with ensuring the sustainability of the ecosystem in the region.

The complex and dynamic nature of watershed problems requires flexible and transparent decision-making that embraces a diversity of sciences and values. However, while the significance and effective role of stakeholder participation in natural decision-making and its benefits have been emphasized and discussed by different scholars and it has been considered in national and international planning, it has not been put into practice in desirably, leading to the discontent of some watershed stakeholders and operators. As watershed projects play an increasingly important role in managing soil and water resources throughout the world, knowing the factors involved in encouraging residents of watershed areas to participate in watershed activities is considered a significant principle in realizing the effective participation of stakeholders in integrated watershed management and achieving the intended goals in this regard. Therefore, the identification of such factors can help relevant authorities benefit from the effective participation of the stakeholders in conservation activities. This study sough to identify, classify, and prioritize the factors involved in discouraging people from participating in watershed projects, using the viewpoints of the experts and residents of Bozijan watershed in Markazi Province. 

Different factors which may be involved in discouraging people from sustained participation in watershed plans were classified in terms of economic, social, human (educational and propagational), and planning indices. To this end, these factors were identified and categorized based on the review of related literature, and in-person interviews with experts and residents of the watershed area. Then, pairwise and Likert questionnaires were prepared as a measuring tool whose validity were confirmed by expert opinions. Finally, after determining the sample size via Cochran formula, 101 questionnaires were administered and the indicators and sub-indicators involved in discouraging people from sustained participation in watershed plans were prioritized, using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process and Friedman Test.

After identifying various factors involved in non-participation in watershed projects, they were classified in terms of are educational-propagational, social, design-executive, and economic indices and sub-indices for the Bozijan watershed.
In this study, eight questionnaires which had been completed by experts and one hundred and one questionnaires which had been completed by residents of the watershed area were analyzed via T test, Analytical Hierarchy Process, and Friedman nonparametric test. The results showed that while from the experts’ viewpoints, the educational-propagational, design-executive, economic, and social indices were, respectively, the most influential factors involved in order of propriety in the non-participation of the Bozijan watershed’s residents in watershed management projects, it was educational-propagational, economic, design-executive, and social indicators that contributed the most to such non-participation from the resident’s perspective.Moreover, experts argued that “Concentration of decision-making power regarding planning and implementation in the Directorate General”, “The elderliness of the residents”, and “Offering no training for the watershed area’s residents by executive officials" were the most effective sub-indices in discouraging people from sustained participation of rural communities in watershed projects, and "The residents’ ethnic and local disagreements” was the least effective sub-index in this regard. The range of average ratings varied from 3.79 to 11.6 in this group. In addition, based on the viewpoints of watershed area’ residents, sub-indices such as "The residents’ discontent concerning the projects’ outcomes”, “Disregarding the residents’ benefits as direct economic incentives, and “Lack of sense of belonging in areas of project implementation by the residents” were the most important factors in their non-participation in watershed activities in order of propriety. The range of average ratings varied from 3.096 to 10.86 in this group.

As mentioned before, from the viewpoints of experts and the watershed area’s residents, the educational-propagational index was the most important factor involved in non-participation of people in watershed projects, followed by the design-executive and economic factors. In other words, both experts and the residents believe that prior to any planning and executive activity, people should well be informed and trained; a fact also confirmed by Rahimzadeh and Charrmchian (2019), and Mahmoudi and et al (2018).
The order of sub-categories mentioned by the watershed area’s residents indicated that any decision made concerning the watershed-related issues could somehow affect their lives. Therefore, they expect to be involved in decision-making structure, and economic approaches are of second importance for them. The experts have also affirmed the non-presence of people in decision-making and planning of executive tasks. In other words, both people and experts argue that mutual communication and participation are necessary for deciding over watershed issues.

Various methods developed to convert large-scale data to regional climatic data. In few studies , the results of these methods have been statistically compared. The main purpose of this study was to compare SDSM and LARS-WG models for Downscaling output data of CANE-SM2 and HADGEM2-ES general circulation models under RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. For this study, precipitation, minimum and maximum temperature of Arak synoptic station were used as the base period (1980-2005). The results of the predictions of the SDSM and LARS-WG models were compared for three periods (2021-2040, 2041-2060 and 2061-2080). The RMSE, R2, MAE and NSE criteria were used to evaluate the performance of SDSM and LARS-WG models. Based on the results of the evaluation criteria, both models have an acceptable resuts in simulation of climate variables. Downscaling results of both models showed that minimum and maximum temperatures should increased compare to baseline in all scenarios and periods from January to June, but LARS-WG model had a over estimation compared to the SDSM model. Changes in predicted precipitation by SDSM and LARS-WG models did not have a clear trend. According to the results, the SDSM model shows more changes in precipitation, wherase, the LARS-WG model shows more changes in minimum and maximum temperature compared to the base period. Based on the results of this study, it is not possible to determine the exact superiority of each of the models, But SDSM model had a better prediction for precipitation and maximum temperature, while, LARS model had better results for maximum and minimum temperature.in general it can be said that the prediction results of both models are statistically significant (P<0.01) in most cases.

With the development of urbanization, a large part of agricultural areas and forests have been replaced by residential areas, industrial centers, and other infrastructures. This is due to human life style and his endeavor to reach sustainable urbanization. A series of changes in the reflection of light from different material’s surface, heat storage and heat transfer, have changednatural and artificial landscape orsignificantly affected local climate. Therefore, public concerns about urban sprawl, increasing urban population and quality of urban environmental have motivated planners to seek better perspectives for development of urban areas. Increasing temperature of urban areas is considered to be one of the most important environmental problem in cities. This increasing temperature results in creation of Urban Heat Islands (UHI) in some parts of urban areas, which are significantly warmer than surrounding urban environment. Therefore,a new and successful method of urban planning should be introduced with respect to spatial distribution of land surface temperature (LST) to achieve better urbanization and reduce environmental impacts on cities.

The present study takes advantage of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) thematic maps to investigate therelationship between air pollution, and two indexes of NDBI and NDVI with land surface temperature (LST) and Urban Heat Islands (UHI) in urban areas. Satellite imageries of Arak (an industrial city in Iran) has been chosen for the case study. Urban and natural areas and impermeable surfaces such as roads, buildings and other constructions are rapidly developing in this city. In the first step of research methodology, necessary pre-processing programs such as radiometric corrections were performed on the satellite imageries. Then satellite imageries were transformed toatmospheric images to produce NDBI and NDVI indexes.  Finally,land surface temperature maps wereproduced using the method of Landsat Project Science Institute in Arc GIS 10.3. To classify satellite images, seven land use classes were identified as poor pastures, averagepastures, rich pastures, bare lands, Lake’s Shore, agricultural lands and residential lands.Then, training images classification method was used to collect samples from the study area and classification was performed using maximum likelihood method for monitoring. In order to analyze LST parameter using NDBI and NDVI indexes, air quality data,and statistical methods like Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, paired t test and Pearson correlation test were used. The results of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test indicated that data used in this study was normally distributed. The results of t test, temperature recorded by synoptic stations in Arak and remotely sensed data indicated that the accuracy of the test is more than 5%. Thus, the difference between residential land use and other urban land uses was not statistically significant. Moreover, results indicate that there is a more than 99 percent correlation between temperature recorded by the synoptic stations in Arak and data collected from satellite imageries. Results of correlation with remotely sensed data indicatedthatthere is a significant correlation between99 percent of results and less than 5 micron particles.

Correlation between air pollution data andremotely sensed data (LST) indicated that LST and less than 5.2 micronparticlesare significantly correlated with 99% accuracy. Urban heat island usually occurs in metropolitan area and its surroundings. Due to climate changes, urban heat islands are constantly developing. This results in increased energy consumption for air conditioning systems. Thus, reducing the effects of urban heat islands has become an important global issue. The present study has successfully explained the effects of urban heat islands and their environmental problems on normal life. Detailed program of related measures and policies should reduce the intensityof urban heat island. Final development of the cities should be based on land surface temperatures in surrounding areas in a way that cities can reach a lower surface temperature as compared to the temperature before urban development.

Following strategies are suggested for a more comprehensive consideration of urban green spaces in urban planning and future development of cities: Paying attention to architecturalcriteria and urban land use, and alsopaying attention to soil and water management parametersbased on the principles of green architecture, paying attention to standards of anthropogenic temperature rise caused by human activities, and the problem of urban heat islands. Moreover, it is crucially important to prepare the necessary situation for the community to reach a good physical and mental health.

Knowledge about optimizing use of rain water under different systems is crucial for overcoming water stress and maximizing crop yield. In this regard, rain-water harvesting is one option that increases the amount of water per unit cropping area, reduces drought, and enables use of run-off. In this study, the importance of filters in rainwater catchment systems for increasing crop yields on steep lands of Khosbijan Natural Resources Research Station was investigated. Rain Water Catchment (RWC) systems with two treatments including: eliminating vegetation and pebble with a gravel filter, and eliminating vegetation and pebble without a gravel filter were created in almond seedling pits. Each year collar diameter, height, and canopy cover were measured at the end of the growing season. The results showed that over a three-year period, the changes in collar diameter, height and canopy cover were greater for filter treated plants. In other words, the presence of filters increased soil moisture storage in the root zone of the plant.

Gully erosion is a serious threat to the society and environment of the study, primarily caused by surface runoff and dramatically accelerated due to rugged topography, soil properties and human induced factors. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate hydrologic processes affecting gully formation by topographic indexes in arid regions of the Markazi Province. Then threshold of the slope -area in the gully regions of Robattork and Pik-e Zarandie were determined. A logarithmic equation was developed using the morphometric characteristics of the gullies, the slope-area relationship at Robat-Tork was highly correlated and the b coefficient was negative. The investigations revealed surface flow with dissolution action was involved in this area. In the Pik-e Zarandie region, this correlation wasn't strong, but it was significant at the level 95%. In this region, the effect of surface flow and dissolution phenomenon on the gully formation was also evident. In addition to the importance of the climate, gully categorizing based on land use can be achieved with better models. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the indices of topographic thresholds that best reflect the conditions of the local physical environment and land cover/use.

Today, land degradation is inevitable due to growing population and corresponding demands, and also economic development, unscientific and illogical utilization of resources. Monitoring and identification of factors affecting is therefore essential for controlling and management of land degradation in an area. However, such important issues have been less considered by experts and managers. To this end, the present study aimed to analyze the trend and identifying the important affecting factors on land degradation in the Shazand Watershed, Iran, based on the Environmental Sensitive Area Index (ESAI) for significant changes due to a variety of uses, management and industrial development from 1986 to 2014. According to the ESAI maps in five year nodes of 1986, 1998, 2008 and 2014, some 16.56, 33.39, 42.32 and 49.52 percent of the study area were in critical condition of land degradation, respectively. Based on the results, the process of land degradation in the region was increasing and land degradation was considerable in the periods leading up to 1998 and 2014. The sensitivity analysis on factors influencing land degradation in the study area also revealed that the role of vegetation, anthropogenic and managerial factors on ESAI changes were more than other factors and therefore could moderate or intensify the land degradation.

Markazi Province have arid and semi-arid climatic. Lack of soil moisture is one of the factors limiting the growth of productive plants during the dry period. One of the basic strategies to deal with these challenges is feasibility growth of plants during drought periodand conserve soil and water resources, proper soil and water resources management in the watershed. System of rainwater is an effective solution to achieve the above objectives. The aim of this research is to compare of three types of systems to collect rain water requirement in order to develop dryland orchards of almond in the steep lands of Khosbyjan in Arak. Therefore, in this study, three types of systems include insulation, natural pasture and cleanranch were chosen. each treatment was repeated four times.The area of the system was 15 meters square. At the end of each plot, runoff collecting and measuringequipment were put. During the project 95 rainfalls occured that measured 35 above 10 mm which created runoff. The results showed that average annual runoff respectively for pasture, clean pasture and insulated are 110,130,2044 liters and average collected water per square meter per year, respectively were 6,8 and 136 liters. Insulated system have highly efficiency for rainwater harvesting and providing water requirement in order to develop almond orchards in sloping dryland.

The present study aimed to monitor the land use change in the Shazand Watershed with different development policies using land use net changes and exchanges in land change modeller (LCM) forperiod of1973to2014and in sub-watersheds scale. In the study period, rangeland area reduced about 380 Km2 and rainfed and irrigation farm lands increased successively 100 and 150 Km2 in the first and the second period and then reduced.The highest annual rate of orchard increase (0.265%) occurred in the third period. The highest increment for residential area (60%) and abandoned land (23.49%) were observed inthe second and third periods, and for the third and fourth periods, respectively. The results also showed that the highest increment of land use change in the mountainous sub-watersheds i.e., Azna and Nahremian occurred before industrial development period and then tended to the plain sub-watersheds i.e., Poledoab. Generally, the maximum land use change was observed in the second period (32.96%). The types of land management, the pattern and the process of land use change especially the expansion of industrial activities in the study region showed that the development policies had an important role in the study region and spatial and temporal patterns of land use change played an important role in creating the current state of the region. Accordingly, any land management program for the study region has to be planned with regard to the spatial and temporal patterns of land use changes considering the adaptive management of the watershed resources.

In order to investigate of geological formation effects on sediment yield in Gharah Kahriz watershed at first by overlaying the base maps such as land type, geology, slope and vegetation, the unit land map were obtained. The amount of sediment yield calculated using MUSLE model in each homogen unit. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, units that was widespread in the region and were almost homogenous in land use, slope and vegetation and the only difference was the type of geological formation, were selected. The results show that the maximum amount of sediment yield during flood events were observed in Kmm­l unit that contains layers of limestone and marl with average of 13.34 t.ha-1, and the minimum amount of sediment yield belongs to the Js unit that compound of Jurassic sandstone with average of 0.20 t.ha-1.

Land degradation development is one of the existing issues in human communities. Degraded lands cover approximately 23% of the global terrestrial area and increasing at an annual rate of 5- 10 million ha. Apart that, economical development, unscientific and illogical utilization of resources are inevitable due to growing population and needs. On the other hand, the unsustainable management strategies due to incorrect identification of the natural resources, increases the land degradation. Appling appropriate management plans is therefore necessary to mitigate damage and protect water resources, soils and vegetation, proper utilization and economic development needs. In this regard, adaptive management is a systematic approach, provides an optimal management of natural resources and reduces land degradation through minimizing uncertainty and greater convergence among stakeholders. In addition, Zero Net Land Degradation (ZNLD) strategy as a new approach can also be achieved when non-degraded land remains healthy and already degraded land is restored, thus reducing to zero the net rate of loss in productive land.

Recognition of effective processes of erosion, especially, threshold is one of the most important strategies in water and soil resources management. Gully erosion is one of the most important sources of sediment yield in watersheds that is defined as different thresholds like area-slope or topography. In this paper, the area- slope threshold was investigated in Zahirabad Watershed in Markazi province, Iran. First, based on field surveys and digital elevation model, morphometric characteristics of 14 gullies were measured, accompanied by soil sampling and vegetation cover measurements. Second, homogeneous groups of gullies were defined by factor and cluster analysis and power relations of area-slope was prepared. Results demonstrated that there was no considerable correlation between area and slope of gully watersheds. So, coefficient of determination of creation point and head-cut of gullies were 0.111 and 0.181, respectively. According to the results, the dominant process in creation and head cut development of gullies in Zahirabad was related to flow concentration and rill erosion of high slopes. Considering the prevail of loamy texture of soils land use changes and deterioration of vegetation cover, it is suggested to investigate the optimization of land use schemas, and land cover improvement on sloppy lands with the objective of gully control.

Increasing in production and welfare of rural household along with soil erosion mitigation are the most important objects of a watershed management program. Land use optimization is an efficient approach that leads to a sustainable development plan. In this research, the land use optimization was applied using a two-objective linear programing model and geographic information systems by Lingo 11.0 software in Adineh-Masjed Shahzand watershed of Markazi province, Iran. The model was defined with three scenarios of current conditions, applying management conditions, and standard conditions for two objectives of maximizing net benefits and minimizing soil erosion. Results showed that the annual soil erosion decreased by 1.27, 18.69 and 26.93% in current land use, land use management, and standard land use conditions, respectively. Also annual net income decreased by 18.56% in current land use; but increased by 48.01 and 220.07% in land use management and standard land use conditions, respectively. Considering weighting value of decreased soil erosion of 1.27% that is less than weighting value of decreased net income in current conditions, land use optimization with no management practices or land standardization is not justifiable.

Gully erosion is a type of water erosion which causes degradation in both agricultural fields and rangelands as well in arid and semi-arid areas. According the role of soil degradation due to erosion، research objectives were to find out investigation causes gully erosion in Robat Tork Watershed. In this research three representative gullies were selected in agriculture and rangeland working units. In each working unit، samples taken from nine soil profiles were analyzed for texture، organic matter، gypsum، total lime، pH، EC and SAR. Soil infiltration rate was measured where were drilled profiles in each working unit too، In addition، morphometric characteristics of gullies including length and lateral profiles، top and down width، depth of gully، the cross section، width to depth ratio، the slope of bed، gully length were studied. Results of the study showed that SAR and sodium cation are caused dispersion of soil particles and increasing gully erosion. percentage of clay and silt is 11% and 29% in surface layer representative head cut gully and organic matter is between 0. 30% to 1. 82% in agriculture unit. In rangeland unit، percentage of clay and sand is 41% and 43% in surface layer representative head cut gully and organic matter is between 0. 29% to 0. 99%. In rangeland unit، in a specified level، the number of gully is more than agriculture unit. Furthermore، the results showed that TNV in agriculture unit and pH، EC in rangeland unit is more than. In both units depth to wide ratio is more than 1 in every gully. Permeability of soil is 4. 25 cm and 3. 45 cm in agriculture and rangeland units respectively.