Compounding morphometric parameters for prioritization of vulnerable watersheds for land restoration planning in Beas sub basin, India using geospatial techniques

Abstract

Abstract The Beas sub basin falling under the Indus basin in Northern India is experiencing notable changes due to human interventions since the rise of civilization in the Indus valley. The incessant anthropogenic pressure, infrastructural development, deforestation and encroachment have made the sub basin more vulnerable to land degradation, erosion and landslides. Thus this study attempts to classify the watersheds based on morphometric characteristics and prioritize the watersheds for sub basin management as a whole so that restoration process can concentrate on the high risk prone watersheds. In this study ALOS PALSAR DEM of 12.5 meters was used to extract the drainage network, watershed, catchment sub basin and basin boundary complemented by topographic and hydrological maps. The study analyses 49 morphometric parameters under categories like linear, areal and relief characteristics. The result classifies the erosion capacity of total 4126 streams with the cumulative length of 12,287.51 km over a sub basin area of 19,338.8 Km2. The morphometric parameters were integrated for each watershed and compound factor was given to rank vulnerability in the GIS environment. The results depicted that sub watershed numbers 2, 6, 12, 16 were high risk prone and underlined as an area which requires immediate attention for soil water conservation measures.