Morphometric Analysis of Kosi River Basin, Bihar, India Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Abstract

The present research work is aimed at studying morphological parameters of the Kosi basin, considering its importance in understanding hydrological behavior. For this purpose, radar data, that is, SRTM 1 Arc-Second Global elevation (30 m), is processed using ArcGIS 10.2 software for the analysis. The ArcSWAT Tool is used as an add-in in ArcGIS 10.2 to delineate the watershed and to generate stream networks. For analyzing the basin, several morphological parameters, namely linear aspects, areal aspects and relief aspects, are estimated. In this study, the drainage basin is 7th order with a lower mean bifurcation ratio of 2.21, indicating a structurally less disturbed basin. The form factor, elongation ratio and circulatory ratio show irregular and elongated basin shape. A low drainage density of 0.86 km/km2 indicates coarse drainage texture and highly permeable subsoil materials. Lower stream frequency reveals gentle ground slope, less runoff and more infiltration. Lower relief aspect values justify the basin is in the valley region. This study is of greater importance in the geomorphological study of the basin and in other future investigations like prioritization of various sub-basins in the Kosi River basin.