HORTONS STREAM

ORDERING
Stream orders
• Each fingertip channel is a segment of the first order
stream.
• Two first order streams merge to form second order
streams and so forth.
• The trunk stream of any watershed bears the highest
order number of the entire system.
• First and second order streams usually carry flowing
only in wet weather.
Stream orders – Bifurcation Ratio
• The order of a stream segment is designated by ‘u’.
• The bifurcation ratio (Rb) is defined as
Stream orders – Bifurcation Ratio

• If the region of uniform climate, rock type, and stage of

development, the bifurcation ratio tends to remain
constant from one order to the next (3 to 5)
Stream Numbers
• R.E. Horton: “The numbers of stream segments of
successively lower orders in a given basin tend to form
a geometric series, beginning with a single segment of
the highest order and increasing according to a
constant bifurcation ratio.”
• Eg. Bifurcation ratio is 3, the trunk segment is the sixth
order, the number of segments will be 1, 3, 9, 27, 81
and 243.
Stream Numbers
• The formula should be

• The total numbers of stream segments of the

entire drainage basin should be
Stream Length
• The 1st order stream segments have the shortest
length, and the segments become longer as order
increases.
• The mean length of stream segments increases by a
length ratio (R1) with each increase in stream order.
Stream Length
• R.E. Horton: “The cumulative lengths of stream
segments of successive orders tend to form a
geometric series beginning with mean length of the
1st order segments and increasing according to a
constant length ratio.”
Stream Slopes
• Slope is stated as a ratio.
• 0.01 is a ration of 1:100. (a drop of 1 metre vertically
in 100 metres horizontally).

Profile a and profile b have

the same slope
Basin Areas
• Horton:” The mean basin areas of successive stream
orders tend to form a geometric series beginning with
mean area of the first-order basins and increasing
according to a constant area ratio.”

• Usually, the discharge of a stream increases with

increasing drainage area.
Drainage Density
• This is found by measuring the total length of all of the
streams within the basin. (km/km2)

• Drainage density are controlled by several factors, but the most

import control factor is infiltration capacity.
Strahler’s Stream ordering