Numbers assigned to streams according to their position within a drainage network. Streams that have no tributaries are first order; streams that receive only first-order tributaries are second order; and larger branches that form when two second-order tributaries combine are third-order, and so on. Stream order designations often vary according to map scale.
The hierarchical number of a stream segment. The smallest tributary has the order number of 1, and successively larger tributaries have progressively higher numbers.
describes the position of a stream in a drainage network, the lower the number the smaller the stream and its catchment.
Refers to the relative size of the streams in the catchment, with the lowest stream order at the headwaters and the highest stream order is the main river trunk
A classification system that represents the relative position of streams in a drainage basin. The highest tributaries in the basin are first order streams. These converge to form second order streams, which have only first order streams as their tributaries. Third order streams form by the confluence of two second order streams. The numbering system continues downstream resulting in higher stream orders.
The numerical designation for individual stream segments from lowest order (smallest tributaries) to higher order, increasing incrementally at stream junctions
A hydrologic system of stream classification. Each small unbranched tributary is a first order stream. Two first order streams join to make a second order stream. A third order stream has only first and second order tributaries, and so forth.
(3) a stream classification system based on the number of tributaries a stream has. The smallest unbranched tributary in a watershed is designated as a first order stream. A stream formed by the confluence of two first order streams is designated as second order stream, and so on.
system used to number streams and their tributaries with first order as the headwater stream. When joined by another first order stream the union of two streams becomes a second order stream and so on.
a measure of the relative size of a stream. Each increase in stream order is an order of magnitude increase in size. The smallest tributaries are referred to as first-order streams, while the largest river in the world is a twelfth-order waterway.
(Also called channel order.) The designation by a dimensionless integer series (1, 2, 3, . . .) of the relative position of stream segments in the network of a drainage basin, with 1 designating a stream with no tributaries.