Abstract
GIS and Remote sensing have proved to be a resourceful tool in the explanation of drainage pattern for water resources management and its planning. The identification of morphometric characteristics based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) was carried out in the Nagavathi watershed, Dharmapuri District. The quantitative drainage morphometric parameters was carried out for the Nagavathi watershed by estimating their (a) Linear aspects like Stream number, Stream order, Stream length, Mean stream length, Stream length ratio, Bifurcation ratio, (b) Aerial aspects like Drainage density, Stream frequency, Texture Ratio, Elongation ratio, Form factor, Circularity index, Length of overflow, Constant of Channel maintenance, Drainage texture, Compactness coefficient and (c) Relief aspects like Basin relief, Relief ratio, Ruggedness number, Gradient ratio, Melton ruggedness ratio, Slope, relative relief, Shape Factor and Leminscate. The drainage area of Nagavithi watershed is 482 sq. Km. the main drainage patterns is dendritic to sub-dendritic drainage. The Nagavathi watershed was classified as a fifth order drainage watershed, whereas micro watershed was classified as an eight in the watershed. Stream order of the watershed was predominantly controlled by structural and lithological controls of various drainage patterns and their stream orientations were identified to evaluate the direction and controlling factors in drainage network. The drainage density in the area has been found to be low which indicates that the area possesses highly permeable soils and low relief. The bifurcation ratio varies from 0.8 to 43.1.
 The elongation ratio of Microwatersheds varies from 0.13 to 0.43, indicates Microwatersheds fall under elongated pattern. This study would help the local people to utilize the resources for planning rainwater harvesting and watershed management.
Highlights
The morphometric analysis of any watershed is very useful for all geological, hydrological and groundwater studies and valuable for water conservation and natural resource management at micro level and helpful for the farmer’s for selecting an area in the watershed for agriculture (Vishavjeet Singh and Singh 2016)
The data used in this study include 30m resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the basin extracted from the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) downloaded from the US Geological Survey Website
The stream tributary directions and the local tectonic regime, the stream channels of the Nagavathi micro watershed were grouped according to their order (1-5) and eight rose diagrams were created for each watershed
Summary
The morphometric analysis of any watershed is very useful for all geological, hydrological and groundwater studies and valuable for water conservation and natural resource management at micro level and helpful for the farmer’s for selecting an area in the watershed for agriculture (Vishavjeet Singh and Singh 2016). Morphometric analysis of a drainage basin and its associated channel network reflect its hydrogeological behaviour and constitute base for assessment of groundwater resource potential (Venkateswaran et al 2012; Horton 1932, 1945; Strahler 1952; Melton 1965; Leopold et al 1964; Cannon 1976; Pakhmode et al 2003; Gangalakunta et al 2004). The present study is focused on the eight micro watershed of Nagavathi watershed with an aim to understand watershed characteristics. This analysis was done using RS and GIS techniques based on drainage lines as represented over the topographical maps in the Scale 1:50,000
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