Process domains categorizes sections of streams according to its local dominant processes. These processes often reflect on the local ecology and the streams appearance. But the underlying reason why these different process domains are formed are still not completely certain. In this study the distribution of the process domains: lakes, rapids and slow-flowing reaches in the Bjur River catchment were compared to the geological factors of slope, surficial geology and landforms to see if any connections could be found. The possibility of using GIS (geographic information systems) and remote data to distinguish these stream types and to connect them to the different studied geological factors were also examined. The hypothesis for this study is that the geological factors of slope, surficial geology and landforms all should have an influence over the distribution of the process domains in Bjur River. The analysis was executed through map-studies in ArcGIS and statistical analysis in Excel. All process domains showed statistical significance towards the studied geological factors. The slope was generally steeper in the rapids than in slow-flowing reaches and lakes. The surficial geology displayed more fine-grained sediment (peat) in proximity to lakes and slow-flowing reaches whilst till was more abundant close to rapids. Hilly moraine landscapes were most common around lakes, while rapids displayed a high percentage of glacio-fluvially eroded area. Slow-flowing reaches also showed to have around 44% of its studied points around glacio-fluvially eroded area, and 43% at areas without any major landforms. Even if the statistical analysis and figures display a difference between the different process domains, it is still difficult to say which of these geological factors that plays the most crucial role for their development. However, by using remote data and through studies over slope, adjacent surficial geology and landforms the different process domains can be differentiated from one another.

Restoration of stream channels have become a common way of trying to restore both the channels and the ecosystems that earlier have been channelized mainly to facilitate the movement of timber. According to previous studies a lot of the restoration has been performed without a sufficiently detailed plan and with too little focus on how the landscape interplay with the restoration, which makes the potential to learn from possible mistakes minimal. In this study, a hydrological analysis of Hjuken river was done to examine if remote data through an analysis using GIS could be used for identifying three different process domains (lake, slow-flowing reaches and rapids), and if it is possible to determine which process domain it is by examining three different variables: channel slope, surficial geology and the geomorphologic characteristics in the landscape. Based on the statistical treatment and the analysis of the data, the result shows a significant difference between every process domain and variable except for the channel slope when it comes to slow-flowing reaches and rapids. This tells us that all the variables that has been analysed could be a crucial factor in most of the cases. However, the result does not seem reliable compared to previous studies. The conclusion of the study is that the error from the identification of the process domains is from the orthophotos. Remote data is too weak to use as the only source for this kind of analysis. However, the definition of process domains is probably more diffuse than today’s description. There needs to be more studies on each process domain, it is probably not enough with three different types, either there should be subclasses for each process domain or even more process domains.