Hydrological investigations in the semi-arid Makhawan watershed, using morphometry

Mohd Yousuf Khanday,Akram Javed

doi:10.1007/s13201-017-0545-1

Mohd Yousuf Khanday, Akram Javed

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-017-0545-1

Copy DOI

Abstract

In order to understand the hydrological behavior of a catchment area, morphometric analysis of the drainage basin plays an important role to expresses the geology, geomorphology and structural antecedents. In the present study, morphometric analysis and its influence on hydrology were carried out in Makhawan watershed, Central India, using SRTM, remote sensing and GIS. SRTM data were used for preparation of DEM, slope and aspect maps. DEM was used to delineate the watershed limits and to extract the channel network, which was later updated using IRS 1D LISS III data. The hydrological module in ArcGIS was used for calculation of watershed and morphometric parameters, under linear, relief and aerial aspects. The watershed shows dendritic-to-sub-dendritic drainage pattern; however, parallel-to-sub-parallel pattern developed locally which may be due to rejuvenation of streams in mature stage with moderate drainage texture. High drainage density in the watershed is observed over impermeable subsurface material, sparse vegetation with high relief; whereas, low drainage density is found over permeable subsurface material and low relief. It has been found that low relief with low drainage density areas are favorable sites for more groundwater prospects.

Highlights

Increasing population pressure and climate change along with erratic rainfall have made water management plans quite difficult
High drainage density in the watershed is observed over impermeable subsurface material, sparse vegetation with high relief; whereas, low drainage density is found over permeable subsurface material and low relief
The present study demonstrates the utility of remote sensing, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and GIS in drainage delineation and their updation, which have been used for the morphometric analysis at subwatershed level

Summary

Introduction

Increasing population pressure and climate change along with erratic rainfall have made water management plans quite difficult. It is a need of hour to evaluate the water resources, because they play an utmost important role in sustainability of livelihood. Drainage basins/catchments are the fundamental units of the fluvial landscape and the recent research has been carried out extensively on their geometric characteristics, topology of the stream networks, quantitative measurements of drainage texture, pattern, shape and relief aspects. The features of basin morphometry have been used to predict or describe geomorphic processes and estimation of sediment yields rates (Baumgardner 1987). Morphometry is the measurement and mathematical analyses of the configuration of the earth’s surface, shape and dimension of its landforms (Agarwal 1998; Reddy et al 2002)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion