SPATIAL REGULARITIES OF CHANGE IN AVERAGE ANNUAL WATER FLOW OF RIVERs OF UKRAINE

One of the most important ways of broad territorial generalization of hydrological characteristics is isoline maps, which are used in the calculation of average annual, seasonal, maximum and minimum water runoff, sediment runoff, in assessing water resources or water balance of the studied areas and so on. The purpose of this study is to construct with the help of GIS analytical functions a map of isolines of the average annual water runoff of rivers of Ukraine and analysis of spatial patterns of its changes. For this purpose, a bank of average annual water discharge was established from the beginning of observations up to and including 2015, from 389 hydrological posts located in Ukraine and abroad (Belarus, the Russian Federation, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania). The map created according to modern data is of great practical importance for various types of water management design: development of a strategy for the rational use and protection of water resources, planning and implementation of water management measures, optimal regulation of river flow, assessment of hydropower potential of rivers and so on.