Abstract

With the accelerating pace of urbanization and the worsening of climate change, securing adequate water resources has become critically important. Recent advancements in spatial technologies, particularly the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), have emerged as vital tools for conducting hydrological and watershed analyses.
Based on the DEM, the GIS framework is used in the research to cover hydrographic explanations for all of Northern Iraq, with emphasis on Kirkuk Governorate. Hydro-environmental geospatial data: Digital Elevation Models were processed from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) 30 m spatial resolution to derive drainage networks, watershed boundaries and slope distribution along with from which direction the water will flow and where it will accumulate. The results indicate that the watershed area of each of the RES (i.e., vegetated region) is dissimilar across the study site, as a reflection of geomorphology variability. The drainage pattern is dendritic and is controlled primarily by a first- and second-order stream, in moderate structural control along with an inherent surface runoff process. Elevation and slope differences primarily control the flow pathways as well as runoff concentration. The results indicate that DEM driven hydrological modeling describe a robust and resource-efficient approach for large scale hydrological evaluation. These products are valuable for flood risk assessment, watershed management and sustainable land-use planning in semi-arid environments.