GIS-Based Methods for Identifying River Networks Types and Changing River Basins

The analysis of climatic drivers is of utmost importance for defining new hydrological parameters. The territory of Serbia covers the area of 88,361 km² and all its rivers belong to three big basins, the Aegean, the Black sea and the Adriatic. Extreme weather conditions have been determining the properties of drainage basins within the last sixty year (1953–2023). This research, conducted for the first time in the territory of Serbia, has shown comparative data on the changes of drainage basins and the changes in the type of river networks for the period of last sixty years. The research also includes the changes of the topography, the terrain and the surface of the basins. The main methodology is based on GIS methods, geostatistical method and remote sensing. Adjusted Strahler’s order was also used for the purpose of this research. The obtained results on the topology of river networks were classified into six different types, them being parallel, dendritic, mixed, radial, fan-shaped and rectangular. There has been an increase by 8% in parallel, mixed and dendritic type. The most significant changes in the last sixty years were observed within the Aegean and Adriatic sea basin. The surface of the Black sea basin increased by 1.2%, with the addition of a higher number of tributaries, whereas the basins of Adriatic and the Aegean sea had a decrease by 0.3% and 0.9% respectively. The number of tributaries decreased by 5.5% within the Adriatic sea basin, and by 8.8% within the Aegean sea basin.