Abstract
India’s water resources are under tremendous pressure due to elevated demand for various purposes. The over-exploitation of these valuable resources has resulted in an imbalance in the watershed ecology. The application of spatial analysis tools in studying the morphological behaviour of watersheds has increased in recent decades worldwide due to the accessibility of the geospatial database. A morphometric analysis of a river basin is vital to determine the hydrological behaviour to develop effective management. Under the current study, morphological behaviour of Nand Samand catchment in the hard rock region was evaluated employing remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) tools. The Nand Samand catchment (Rajasthan State, India) has an area of 865.18 km2 with the highest and lowest elevations of 1318 m and 570 m above mean sea level, respectively. This study utilises a 30 m high-spatial-resolution ASTER imagery digital elevation model for delineating the catchment. The drainage network is assessed using a GIS method, and morphometric parameters like linear, areal, and relief aspects were calculated. Results were obtained for parameters viz., basin length of 82.66 km, constant channel maintenance equal to 0.68 km, stream frequency of 2.11 km−2, drainage density of 1.48 km−1, and length overflow of 0.34 km. Form factor of 0.13, and the circulatory ratio of 0.28 showed that an elongated shape characterises the study area. The results would help understand the relationship between hydrological variables and geomorphological parameters for better decision-making. The techniques used could effectively help to perform better drainage basin and channel network morphometric analyses. The found morphometric characteristics will be helpful in understanding the Nand Samand catchment and similar areas in India in order to better guide the decision-makers in providing adequate policy to the development of the region.
Highlights
In the last few decades, natural resources like land and water have been depleting and deteriorating due to various natural and artificial processes
The present study aimed to study the hydrological behaviour of the Nand Samand catchment in the hard rock region, Rajasthan, in India, by analysing the morphological aspects employing remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS)
The present study evaluated the morphological characteristics of the Nand Samand as shown by the dendritic drainage pattern, which generally implies the presence of massive crystalline hard rock in the terrain [45,82]
Summary
In the last few decades, natural resources like land and water have been depleting and deteriorating due to various natural and artificial processes. The water resources are under extreme press due to urbanization and population explosion. The interest in freshwater availability of acceptable quality for drinking and other uses is expanding rapidly. The predicament of ground and below ground surface water is expanding [1,2,3]. About a third of the Earth’s total land area is covered by arid and semi-arid areas [4]. Watershed management is a supported method for natural resource management in different Indian climates and ecosystems. There is an immediate necessity to consider assessment of water and natural resources for living and economic stability [5]
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