The identification of suitable areas for afforestation in order to reduce the potential for surface runoff in the upper and middle sectors of Buzãu catchment

Deforestations, besides the global climate change, are the main cause of the intensification of f loods and flash - floods in the latest years. Since surface runoff is the main phenomenon leading to floods or flash - floods, afforestation is necessary, forest coverage being the element that retains most of the water from precipitation. The study area, repr esented by the upper and middle sectors of Buzau River basin, is one of the most affected regions of Romania by torrential phenomena. Also, the study area was chosen due to its considerable deforestation. This paper proposes a methodology created exclusive ly by GIS techniques in order to identify the areas suitable for afforestation. Thus, land cover and slope relief were taken into account when running the GIS model. Database processing and obtaining the final results were possible by implementing a workfl ow in Model Builder from ArcGIS 10.3, which can be later used as a tool for other study areas. The results of the study highlight Balaneasa, Bâsca Chiojdului and Sărăţel river basins, which record the highest shares of areas suitable for afforestation.