Quantitative Morphometric Assessment of Bhima Lower sub-basin using Remote Sensing and GIS

The Bhima lower sub-basin, a tributary of the Krishna River, was opted for the morphometric assessment so as to understand the relation between the drainage system and the lithology as well as the topography of the area. The Cartosat-1 DEM with a spatial resolution of 2.5m was used for the watershed delineation and stream network extraction. ArcGIS 10.3 software was used as the computational as well as analytical tool and for the preparation of thematic maps. The sub-basin was fractionated into 26 watersheds and 12 micro-watersheds with each of them having a least 3rd order stream as the main channel. More than 25 morphometric parameters were studied which included the linear, aerial, shape as well as relief aspects of the morphometry. The Bhima River forms the trunk stream with an order of 7, while WS11 was found to be the largest watershed within the sub-basin and the WS11f was found to be the longest. The drainage is very much controlled by the lithology of the area. The terrain was found to be rough, elongated with some watersheds having a high risk of flooding. The study forms a base for further watershed management and sustainable development works