Morphometric Analysis of Damodar River Sub-watershed, Jharkhand, India, Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Abstract

AbstractMorphometric analysis is a mathematical examination of the shape and dimension of the earth's surface that illustrates the interrelationship between hydraulic parameters and geomorphologic characteristics of a drainage basin. The present study indicates the effectiveness of remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS)-based morphometric analysis of a sub-watershed of Damodar River basin in Ramgarh district, Jharkhand, India. The sub-watershed and drainage texture of the study area is extracted by ASTER DEM and topographical map in the GIS environment. Morphometric parameters such as stream order, stream length, bifurcation ratio, drainage density, stream frequency, form factor, and circulatory ratio are calculated. The sub-watershed’s total drainage area is 46.71 km2 and shows a dendritic drainage pattern that designates homogeneous lithology, gentle regional slope, and lack of structural control. The study area is designated as the fifth-order basin with a drainage density (Dd) value ranges 9.91 km/km2. An extensive field survey supports the results. Results of the study have immense significance for engineers, managers, and planners for management of soil, water and provide watershed prioritizing management activities in the area.KeywordsMorphometric analysisSub-watershedDrainage densityASTER DEMGIS