International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research (IJSER) www.ijser.in ISSN (Online): 2347-3878, Impact Factor (2014): 3.05 Volume 3 Issue 9, September 2015 Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Determining the Optimum Site of Small Dams Using Remote Sensing Techniques and GIS Nawal K. Ghazal 1 , Salman Rasool Salman 2 University of Baghdad, College of Science, Iraq Abstract: The dams regarded as an appropriate way for harvesting and storing water. The main aim of this research is to study the use of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) to locate the best site of small dam in the east part of Iraq, east Alkut city. Satellite image of Landsat 8 were used to extract the lineament structures of the studied area by using the Geomatical2014 software, the extracted lineaments were identical in lengths and number to the lineaments in the geological map of studied area. Digital elevation models (DEM) were used to draw the drainage pattern and slope map of the studied area by using ArcGIS software. The drainage pattern was dendritic of e6 th order and the slope of studied area was ranging from 0 o to 61 o , where the zero degree refers to the flat area. Finally, according to the analysis of the previous results, one site was suggested in 46 o 4' 11'' E longitude and 32 o 46' 29'' N latitude to be the best site in the studied area. Keywords: Determining Dam Site, Remote Sensing, GIS, DEM 1. Introduction Water is a vital material for the existence of human beings, not only of drinking but also in other usages and requirements of human beings [1]. Dam is one of the ways to store water to use it whenever needed. Dam site selection in order to store water in the rainy seasons and use it in the drought seasons is an effective task to make the proper use of water in Iraq's situation. The most important point in the study of dams is the selection of the best spot of the basin in order to lower the costs and increase the benefits [2]. Remote Sensing and GIS technologies are well-established tools and are routinely used in applied hydrology, forestry, land use dynamics analyses, etc. Abilities of remote sensing technology in hydrology are to measure spatial, spectral, and temporal information and provide data on the state of the earth's surface. It provides observation of changes in hydrological states, which vary over both time and space that can be used to monitor hydrological conditions and changes [3]. Remote sensing data are fundamentally different, they incorporate spatial information. The rapidly developing GIS technology is a powerful tool to organize process and visualize spatial data. Thus, remote sensing and GIS can complement each other and enable hydrological models to be more physically based and more efficient [4]. Application of remote sensing and GIS techniques in hydrology is today one of the most effective approaches. Recently, remote sensing has provided valuable datasets to examine hydrological variables and morphological changes over large regions at different spatial and temporal scales. Many researchers over the past 20 years have focused on satellite imagery applications in hydrology [5]. 2. Data and Software Used 1. Geological Map of soil type. 2. Digital elevation model (DEM) of 30m resolution. 3. Landsat 8 Satellite image of 30m resolution. 4. ArcGIS 10.2, PCI Geomatica 2014. 3. Describing of Studied Area The studied area is a basin located in the east part of Iraq east of Alkut City, which is bounded from the east by the international Iraq-Iran boundaries. The basin represented by longitude (46 o 9'20'' N-46 o 16'44'' N) and by latitude (33 o 4'37'' N-32 o 55'30'' N) covering an area of (2098 km2) as shown in figure (1). The north-east part of the basin which is originated from Iran has higher elevations. About (98 km2) of this basin is locate in Iranian lands. Figure 1: Location of studied area 4. Methodology of Work 1. Enhance the digital elevation model (DEM) to draw the drainage pattern and slop map utilizing the ArcGIS software. 2. Make the Geo reference process to the geological map by using ArcGIS software. 3. Using Landsat satellite image to extract the lineament structures utilizing PCI Geomatica software and comparing the results with lineaments in the geological map. 4. Select dam site according to the data that acquired from previous steps. Paper ID: IJSER15472 69 of 73