Automatic Association of Strahler’s Order and Attributes with the Drainage System

Abstract

A typical drainage pattern is an arrangement of river segments in a drainage basin and has several contributing identifiabel features such as leaf segments, intermediate segments and bifurcations. In studies related to morphological assessment of drainage pattern for estimating channel capacity, length, bifurcation ratio and contribution of segments to the main stream, association of order with the identified segment and creation of attribute repository plays a pivotal role. Strahler (1952) proposed an ordering technique that categorizes the identified stream segments into differnt classes baseed on their significance and contribution to the drainage pattern. This work aims at implementation of procedures that efficient associate order with the identified segments and create a repository that stores the attributes and estimates of different segments automatically. Implementation of such techniques not only reduces both time and effort as compared to that of manual procedures, it also improves the confidence and reliability of the results.