Investigation of Meandering Pattern of Aji-Chay River Using Central Angle Indices and Curvature coefficient (Area between Bakhshayesh and Khajeh)

River morphology is the science of knowing the river system regarding general shape and form, dimensions and hydraulic geometry, direction and longitudinal profile of the bed, and the process and quality of its changes. The river plan is divided into three classes of direct, braided (multi-branch) and meandering river in terms of the morphological structure of the river, among which the meandering pattern has attracted the most attention due to its abundance in nature. In order to describe the pattern of the meandering streams, a number of geometric parameters related to the river plan have been defined. By analyzing the frequency and magnitude of these characteristics along the river and at different times, the river changes in the temporal and spatial dimension can be examined. These parameters Such as the length of the pontoon, the width of the pontoon, the width of the river and the length of the river. The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics and patterns of the Aji Chai River. These parameters are such as the length of meander, the width of meander, river width, and the length of the river. The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics and pattern of the Aji Chai Rivers’ meanders.

The study area was part of Aji-Chay River (Bakhshayesh​​ to Khajeh) with an approximate length of 50 km, located in the northeast of Tabriz. The following materials are used in this study:1) Topographic map of 1:50000 and 1:250000 scales were used to examine the morphology of the study area,2)Geological maps of 1:250000 and 1:100000 scales for the analysis of geological and tectonic characteristics of the study area and 3)Using Landsat-8 and Google Earth satellite images and the ArcGIS, Excel, Autocad softwares.The study area was divided into three reaches. Some circles fitted to the meanders in the AutoCAD environment and the geometric characteristics such as wavelength, arc length, and radius of curvature of the circle, which is tangent to the river path, were measured to calculate the curvature coefficient (S = c / v) and the central angle (c/Rπ = ϴ 180). Then specification of each of the circles of the same samples was obtained and then in the EXCEL software, a plot of the samples was drawn.

Due to the long-range of the study area, the intended path was divided into three reaches. In terms of the central angle index in the first reach, the most frequent central angle was 62.5%, which is related to developed meander pattern. In the second reach, the highest frequency of central angle with 56% was related to the developed meandered pattern. In the third reach also the most frequent central angle was related to the developed meander pattern with a frequency of 57.5%. By comparing the three studied reaches in terms of the central angle index in general, it is concluded that all three reaches have a meandering pattern, in particular, a developed one, so that the average of all three reaches (the first reach 110.2, the second 118.2, and the third 123.1, respectively) are in the developed meandering pattern  category (85-158). In each of three reaches, the most frequent central angle belongs to the developed meandering pattern. The average curvature coefficient of the reaches, calculated by dividing the sum of frequencies in each reach by the total number of samples of each reach, is as follows: in the first reach, the average curvature coefficient was 1.18 which is in the range of 1-06 – 1.25 showing a sinusoidal pattern. In the second reach, the average curvature coefficient is 1.30, which is in 1.25-2 range, also has a meandering pattern. In the third reach, the average is 1.26, which is the same as the second average in the range 1.25-2 and the pattern is meandering. In general, the pattern of flow in the first reach was sinusoidal and with the increase of arches in the second reach, it changed to the meandering pattern. In the third reach, although, there was a minor reduction trend was, it retained the meandering pattern.

Based on the results from the morphometric indices, including the central angle and curvature coefficient in the studied area, the total mean of the central angle in the three reaches is 126.1 degrees, which is in the range of 85-158, showing the developed meandering pattern in the river morphology.The mean curvature coefficient in the three studied reaches is 1.25, which is in range 1.25-2, takes the meandering pattern in terms of curvature coefficient, so the studied river has a meandering to developed meandering patterns.The findings of the study indicate that the study area has a nearly uniform and smooth slope, and considering the fact that the existence of a gradient is a significant factor affecting the development of the developed arcs and meander formation, as a result, in determining the river pattern and morphology of the study area, the topography factor had the first priority.
Due to the fact that erodible formations cover most of the area, the factor of lateral erosion in low-slope areas has been effective in the warping of the river path due to the presence of loose and erodible sediments.