Volume 11, Issue 2, November 2014, Pages 527–532
E. K. Manju1 and A. V. George2
1 School of Environmental Science, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India
2 School of Environmental Science, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Morphometric analysis helps to understand the fluvial and structural control of the terrain and the geological and geomorphic aspects of a drainage basin. It is inevitable in developmental and management plan of a watershed. A critical evaluation and assessment of morphometric parameters of Vagamon and Peermade sub-watersheds have been achieved through measurement of linear, aerial and relief aspects of sub-watersheds by using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System techniques. Detailed drainage map is prepared for both the sub-watersheds using ArcGIS 9.2. The analysis reveals that Vagamon a typical high land sub-watershed of Meenachil river basin is characterized by trellis pattern. Stream order varies from 1 to 3 with total number of stream segments as 43, out of which the 83.72% is by 1st order streams with a minimum 2.33% as 3rd order whereas Peermade sub-watershed, which forms a part of Pamba river basin is characterized by the dominance of dendritic pattern. However the eastern region shows trellis pattern. Out of the 100 stream segments identified, 79.00% (79) is 1st order with only 1.00% i.e., one number is 4th order stream. Vagamon sub-watershed shows typically trellis drainage pattern and structural complexity. Morphometric analysis results reveals that Vagamon sub-watershed has high values of Ruggedness Number (Rn), Length of Overland Flow (Lof), Bifurcation Ratio (Rb) and Constant Channel Maintenance (C) and low values of Elongation Ratio (Re), Circularity Ratio(Rc), and Form Factor (Rf). This indicates the highly elongated shape and the structural complexity which further emphasized by the typical trellis pattern of the of Vagamon sub-watershed. High basin relief and relief ratio of the Vagamon sub-watershed compared to that of Peermade sub-watershed is an expression of the more steep nature of the slopes compared to Peermade, as is evident from field verification. High drainage density (Dd), stream frequency (Fs) and texture ratio (T) of Peermade sub-watershed reveals its low infiltration capacity and impermeable subsurface material.
Author Keywords: Peermade, Vagamon, dendritic pattern, trellis pattern, structural complexity.
E. K. Manju1 and A. V. George2
1 School of Environmental Science, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India
2 School of Environmental Science, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Morphometric analysis helps to understand the fluvial and structural control of the terrain and the geological and geomorphic aspects of a drainage basin. It is inevitable in developmental and management plan of a watershed. A critical evaluation and assessment of morphometric parameters of Vagamon and Peermade sub-watersheds have been achieved through measurement of linear, aerial and relief aspects of sub-watersheds by using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System techniques. Detailed drainage map is prepared for both the sub-watersheds using ArcGIS 9.2. The analysis reveals that Vagamon a typical high land sub-watershed of Meenachil river basin is characterized by trellis pattern. Stream order varies from 1 to 3 with total number of stream segments as 43, out of which the 83.72% is by 1st order streams with a minimum 2.33% as 3rd order whereas Peermade sub-watershed, which forms a part of Pamba river basin is characterized by the dominance of dendritic pattern. However the eastern region shows trellis pattern. Out of the 100 stream segments identified, 79.00% (79) is 1st order with only 1.00% i.e., one number is 4th order stream. Vagamon sub-watershed shows typically trellis drainage pattern and structural complexity. Morphometric analysis results reveals that Vagamon sub-watershed has high values of Ruggedness Number (Rn), Length of Overland Flow (Lof), Bifurcation Ratio (Rb) and Constant Channel Maintenance (C) and low values of Elongation Ratio (Re), Circularity Ratio(Rc), and Form Factor (Rf). This indicates the highly elongated shape and the structural complexity which further emphasized by the typical trellis pattern of the of Vagamon sub-watershed. High basin relief and relief ratio of the Vagamon sub-watershed compared to that of Peermade sub-watershed is an expression of the more steep nature of the slopes compared to Peermade, as is evident from field verification. High drainage density (Dd), stream frequency (Fs) and texture ratio (T) of Peermade sub-watershed reveals its low infiltration capacity and impermeable subsurface material.
Author Keywords: Peermade, Vagamon, dendritic pattern, trellis pattern, structural complexity.
How to Cite this Article
E. K. Manju and A. V. George, “A comparative study of the Morphometric Analysis of High land sub-watersheds of Meenachil and Pamba Rivers of Kerala, Western Ghats, South India,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 527–532, November 2014.
