Morphometric evaluation of Swarnrekha watershed, Madhya Pradesh, India: an integrated GIS-based approach

Abstract

The quantitative analysis of the watershedis vital to understand the hydrological setup of any terrain. The present study deals with quantitative evaluation of Swarnrekha Watershed, Madhya Pradesh, India based on IRS satellite data and SRTM DEM. Morphometric parameters of the watershed were evaluated by computations of linear and areal aspect using standard methodology in GIS environment. ARC GIS software was utilized for morphometric component analysis and delineation of the watershed using SRTM digital elevation model (DEM). The watershed is drained by a fifth-order river and shown a dendritic drainage pattern, which is a sign of the homogeneity in texture and lack of structural control. The drainage density in the area has been found to be low which indicates that the area possesses highly permeable soils and low relief. The bifurcation ratio varies from 3.00 to 5.60 and elongation ratio is 0.518 which reveals that the basin belongs to the elongated shape basin and has the potential for water management. The main objective of the paper is to extract the morphometric parameters of the watershed and their relevance in water resource evaluation management. The results observed from this work would be useful in categorization of watershed for future water management and selection recharge structure in the area.