Analysis and generalization of the characteristics of mudflame flows and their catchments in the Prut and Siret River basins within Ukraine

The article analyzes and summarizes the characteristics of mudflows in the Prut and Siret river basins within Ukraine. The studied river basins, as part of the complex physical and geographical structure of the Carpathian region, combine factors that create a favorable environment for the active formation of mudflows. Here there is a steep mountain relief in the upper reaches, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that are unstable to landslides, intense atmospheric influence, a dense hydrographic network, and specific features of the soil and vegetation cover. To conduct the study, 5 statistical series of characteristics of mudflows were formed – areas of mudflow basins, elevations of their highest points, lengths and average slopes of mudflow channels, elevations of their closing sections. The total number of members of the above-mentioned series according to each of the characteristics of mudflows is 143 (125 in the Prut river basin, 18 in the Siret river basin). The source data bank was created based on many years of data from expeditionary work of the Ukrainian Hydro meteorological Institute and the hydrographic party of the Borys Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory, information on the consequences of the passage of mudflows collected in road and forestry organizations. The main methods used are methods of mathematical statistics, namely, histograms of the distribution of characteristics of mudflows and correlation-regression analysis of the relationships between them were used. The constructed histograms of relative frequencies in the form of partial intervals for all the studied characteristics demonstrated the peculiarities of their distribution, which made it possible to identify the most typical indicators of mudflows inherent in the studied territory. Correlation-regression analysis showed the interdependence and interrelationship between the studied characteristics of mudflows. The results obtained are of practical importance, as they characterize the main patterns and features of the formation of mudflows in the Prut and Siret river basins, which are dangerous hydrological phenomena in the mountainous and foothill parts of the studied territory.