Journal of Spatial Analysis

The process of urbanization and development in high-risk areas such as river banks has increased the vulnerability of urban communities to environmental hazards. The banks of Khoshk River in Shiraz is one of these areas. These hazards are two parts : hazards resulted from river and waterways erosion (destruction, transportation and sedimentation) and the hazards resulted from floodings over the surrounding urban areas.

In order to prepare the literature review for this study, the various books, theses and articles were applied. Also, in order to determine the spatial position of this section, the Satellite Images and Google Earth pictures were used. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was also applied for the field observations such as collecting spatial data, extracting the kind of formations, Geological structures and faults. ArcGIS and Global Mapper 16.2 were also used for data processing and mapping.

 The geomorphological hazards in Khoshk River bank were evaluated in two parts:

1. The evaluation and analysis of the role of river and flooding processes in creating the environmental hazards for Shiraz.
2. The evaluation and analysis of the role of humans as the intensive factors of riverine and floods hazards in city.

 The evaluation of longitudinal profile in the river indicates that when the stream is entered to plain, the water moves with more speed because of faults and high steepness over the  Drake alluvial fan. One indication of this process is the presence of coarse sands and angled gravels. In this part, the erosion of riverbank is much higher than the erosion of river bed. In this section, the longitudinal profile of the river has a regular trend of concave and convex sections due to the erosion in convex parts and sedimentation in concave parts. In addition, there is a balance between deposition and digging process. The erosion is very intensive in regions where arc meander is close to  the flooding plain of the bank and causing the destruction of all facilities.

 The longitudinal profile in the river indicates that the height and slope of river has been reduced from North West to Maharloo River. The average slope of the river is 2.40%.

         In order to determine the role of flooding in creating risks for Shiraz, the floodwater discharge data were collected from Regional Water Organization. Furthermore, in order to understand the role of maximum discharge values, various experimental relations were used in the basin. The un- ordered development of urban areas especially in the north west, destruction of natural areas intensified the amount of  runoff and reduction of vegetation cover.

 The pick values of maximum discharges in Khoshk river  with the return periods of 50 and 100 years waere estimated 115m³/s to 131.4m³/s respectively which may result in overflowing of water on the streets. The human factors include the construction of bridges on the river, fencing river with stones and construction of beach, construction of bypasses for public transportation and reducing the traffic in the riverbed and trespassing to the river bed in Shiraz caused the overflowing of water from the river. The last floods in Shiraz occurred in 1987 and 2002 that caused major losses to the houses and commercial places close to Khoshk River. In order to analyze parts of river that are close to the town and have more important influences on the hazards and disasters, the satellite images of khoshk river basin in the town were taken and the river was classified in three sections with regard to risks level, river morphology and river classification based on its hazards for close areas as high risk (Maali abad Bridge limits to Fazilat Bridge and Sardkhaneh Bridge to Maharloo River), low risk(Tange sorkh to Maali abad Bridge) and medium risk (Fazilat Bridge to Sardkhaneh Bridge).

 Investigating the effect of desert micro-organisms on vegetative traits and yield of grapevine in Shiraz
 
Extended Abstract
 
Introduction
 Mineral aerosols as a pollution of atmosphere has become a global concern with environmental impacts on human, Vegetable and transportation system. Plants exposed to aerosol exhibit morphological and physiological changes. Dust particles is one of the aerosols in the atmosphere which deposits on the leaf of plants can alter their available light of photosynthesis. This interferes with gas exchange of CO₂ between the leaf and air of environment, and the reduction of leaf stomatal conductance. Finally reduction the yield of plants. Grapevines Vitis vinifera. Askari, are grown extensively in the Shiraz city. The period from March to July coincides with extensive shoot and fruit which these processes depend on environment conditions. Any stress reducing fruit set and leaf characterizes, will negatively affect grapevine productivity. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine the effects of dust deposits on grapevine leaves and to estimate the impact on vegetative traits and yield of grapevine.
 
Method
 Experiments were implemented on 36 grapevines V.vinifera L. cv. Askari in the form of RCBD with drip irrigation during 2017-2018 from late March to July when the buds grow until the harvest. Treatments included: T₁) artificial dust sprayed on canopy of vine by a manually operated duster, T₂) washing canopy of vines using well water in the field after spraying artificial dust, and T₃) control. Artificial dust particles were collected from uncultivated areas of Azadegan plain in Khuzestan province. To provide suitable fine particles, the soil was grinded, milled and sieved using a mesh size of 200 opening per inches. The physical and chemical tests were performed using an X-ray diffraction device. A dust chamber and a dust generator were constructed to simulate dust. A mechanical apparatus consisted of a 50-cm pipe and a ventilation fan was also used. The chamber was made of a plastic sheet with 2×2×1.5 m dimensions. To evaluate chlorophylls a and b concentration, used by spectrophotometer in wavelengths of 647 nm and 663 nm. Single Leaf Area Index (LAI) was calculated by image processing method Win-Area-Ut_10 system. The sugar content of grapes was determined by measuring the Refrectometer BME center index of their juice sugar. Also measured the RWC, fruit set percentage, Length of Branch Leaf Dry Weight and Yield.
 
Results
The mean of particle size was 10.6 μm and the chemical composition of these particles included Silicon Oxide, Sodium Sulfate, Na = 6.14 mg/L, K = 10.73 mg/L, Ca = 23.9 meq/L and Mg = 3.5 meq/L. Chlorophyll a and b content decreased by dust particles treatment in the throughout the phonological stages of grapevine and had a significantly different as compared to washing and control treatments. RWC was reduced in the dust treatment as compared to the washing and control treatment (P < 0.05). The maximum of Leaf Area Index (131 cm²) was obtained in the control and the minimum (86 cm²) was obtained in the dust treatment. The maximum percentage of fruit set was obtained in the washing treatment (24%). but, the lowest fruit set trait (18%) was found in the dust treatment. The highest TSS (22.7 %) was observed in the washing treatment and the lowest TSS (18.1%) was seen in the dust treatment. The difference among the numbers of berries among treatments was significant (P < 0.05). The highest and the lowest numbers of berries were observed in the washing treatment (87 berries per bunch) and the dust treatment (49 berries per bunch). The heaviest bunch was observed in the washing treatment (158.7 g), while the lightest bunch weight (100 g) was observed in the dust treatment which had significantly difference with control and washing treatments. The highest yield (22.5 kg/vine) was observed in the washing treatment and the lowest yield (7.9 kg/vine) was observed in the dust treatment, whereas control produced 19.5 kg/vine averagely.
 
Conclusion
It was found that dust accumulation on the surface of leaf grapevine Askari induces some physiological changes such as a reduction of photosynthetic pigments, relative water content and leaf area. Deposition of dust particles on flower of grape led to decrease of reproductive trait, but washing vine by water led to improvement of production. As a result, washing of vine also increased grape production as compared to the control treatment. According to the results, dust particles reduced fruit set by deposition on flower and they were identified as an environmental stress on grapevine. More importantly, the results revealed that yield of grapevine was adversely affected by dust deposits over a short interval of time during the fruit set. Therefore, the fruit set stage, in which the fruit is formed, was recognized as the most important stage in plant production. It was also found that removal of dust particles from the plant leaves by washing methods can reduce the effects of dust particles.
 
Keywords: Dust, Chlorophyll, Fruit, Sugar, Shiraz.