Morphometric analysis of Chanavada – II watershed in Aravalli hills of southern Rajasthan using geospatial technique

Abstract

Watershed management has gained importance in management of natural resources, such as soil, water their conservation and improvement in the livelihood of the peoples in the region. Morphometric analysis has been commonly applied to prioritization of watersheds arresting the loss of soil and water. In the present study an attempt has been made to study the morphometric characteristics of Chanavada micro watershed using remote sensing and GIS technique. The Chanavada micro-watershed is part of Jhakham, Gomti catchment covering an area of 1475 ha in Girwa block of Udaipur district in southern Rajasthan. The morphometric analysis of the watershed reveals that the watershed is 4th order, elongated in shape having mixed drainage pattern. The value of mean stream length (Lsm) varies from 0.59 to 8.67 may be due to variation in slope and topography. The stream length ratio showed an increasing trend in the length ratio from lower order to higher order indicating their mature geomorphic stage. The high value of bifurcation ratio indicates the strong structural control on the drainage development. The drainage density of the watershed is 4.16 which could be the result of impermeable sub-surface material, sparse vegetation and mountainous relief and drainage texture of the watershed lie between 2 and 4 which is related to coarse texture. The low Rf value (0.23) indicated elongated shape of watershed and suggesting flatter peak flow for longer duration. The value of elongation ratio (Re) is associated with high relief and steep slope showing elongated shape of watershed. The present study demonstrates the utility of remote sensing and GIS technique in studying morphometric analysis of hilly watershed.