Morphometric analysis of Seonath river of Chhattisgarh using remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) Technique

Abstract

The delineation of drainage system is importance in understanding hydrological system of an area, water resource management and it's planning in an effective manner. Remote sensing, Geographical Information System has proved to be an efficient tool in delineation of drainage pattern and water resources management and it's planning. The study has demonstrated the potential use of remotely sensed data and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in evaluation of linear, relief and areal morphometric parameters of Seonath river. Strahler's method of stream ordering is the most commonly used method has been followed for the present study. The Seonath river of Chhattisgarh covers an area of about 30868 km2 and is 7th order drainage basin with mainly dendritic drainage pattern. The numbers of lower order streams are more than the higher order streams and the bifurcation ratio of the study area was low value. The low values of bifurcation ratio indicate that the drainage of the basin has suffered less structural disturbances and drainage pattern has been distorted. The basin has low drainage density of 0.49km−1 and is elongated in shape. Stream length decreases with the order increases and the length of overland flow values of the basin was 0.25. These studies are significant for soil erosion prevention and land and soil management practices.