Evaluation of Morphometric Parameters—A Remote Sensing and GIS Based Approach

Syed Ahmad Ali, Nazia Khan

Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India..

DOI: 10.4236/ojmh.2013.31004                

Abstract

Land and water resources are generally depleting due to rapid increase in population, urbanization and industrialization. The demand has increased tremendously for these resources; hence optimal utilization of them is essential for sustainable development. In the present study, detailed morphometric parameters of the Banas river basin has been carried out. The river Banas originating from the Khamnor hills of the Aravalli ranges (about 5 kms from Kumbalgarh) is one of the major rivers of the state which, in its entire course, flows through Rajasthan. It flows from Kumbalgarh towards the south upto Gogunda plateau and after cutting the Aravalli ranges at right angles, it flows through Nathdwara, Rajsamand and Railmagra. The total area of the Banas river basin is 702.55 km². Detailed drainage map was prepared from SOI (Survey of India) toposheets (45h/5 and 45h/9) and was updated using IRS-P6, LISS-III (Precision geocoded) data of 7^th May, 2010 using ARC GIS software. For detailed study, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) was used for delineating watershed boundary using SAGA GIS software. GIS techniques has been used for assessing various morphometric characteristics of the drainage basin, as they provide a flexible environment and a powerful tool for the manipulation and analysis of spatial information particularly for the feature identification and extraction of information for better understanding. In the present study, the GIS analysis techniques were used to evaluate linear and areal morphometric parameters of the basin. Drainage patterns are mainly dendritic to sub-dendritic with fifth order drainage. Banas river basin possess high drainage density which is indicative of less permeable material, sparse vegetative cover and moderate to high relief.

Keywords

Morphometric Characteristics; SRTM; Drainage Density; GIS

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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