Morphometric and Terrain analysis of Payaswani River Basin ...In Kerala, morhometric analysis is...

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOMATICS AND GEOSCIENCES

Volume 4, No 2, 2013

© Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services

Research article ISSN 0976 – 4380

Submitted on October 2013 published on November 2013 356

Morphometric and Terrain analysis of Payaswani River Basin of Kerala

and Karnataka States using GIS Sukumar B, Ahalya Sukumar

Scientists (Retired), Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulamm Thiruvananthapuram

[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Morphometry and terrain analyses are important in geomorphology where quantitative

measurements are made on physical characteristics of landforms. It is done mainly to

understand the structure, processes and evolution of landscape. In this paper, an attempt is made

to study the morphometric aspects of streams and terrain characteristics of landforms of

Payaswani river basin of Kerala and Karnataka states using GIS. It has an area of 1342 km2.

Of which, 42.02 per cent of the total area is in Kasaragod district of Kerala state and 57.08 per

cent in Karnataka state. Survey of India Topographic maps and SRTM data were used for the

study. ArcGIS and Spatial Analyst Module were used for the study. Payaswani River is the 6th

order stream in which there are 5643 streams available in the basin. Relief is varying between

mean sea level west and 1100 meters in the south east. There are two planation surfaces at

100m and 200m height. Hundred meter surface occupy 52.7 per cent of the total area. Three to

six degrees slope category is the predominant slope with 19.7 per cent. North direction slope

occupy 17.7 per cent. Most of the area comes under erosional landforms. Bifurcation ratio

indicates that there was neotectonic activity in the lower region of the basin. In general the

landscape indicates structural control over the landform development.

Keywords: Morphometry, planation surface, structural control, tectonic, neotectonics.

1. Introduction

Morphometry and terrain analysis are important in geomorphology where quantitative

measurements are made on physical characteristics of land forms. It is done mainly to

understand the structure, processes and evolution of landscape. Terrain analysis is defined as

the representation and investigation of information relating to the shape of the earth. Various

dimensions of a landscape or of individual landforms can be measured, and any relationships

between them can be investigated. This branch of geomorphology is called morphometry (Hart,

1986). Morphometric analysis is very important in fluvial geomorphology Horton (1932, 1945),

Thornbury (1954) and Strahler (1964). Drainage pattern analysis is important in characterizing

geomorphic features and inferring the degree of structural and lithological controls in the

evolution of fluvial landforms. Geology, relief, and climate play important roles to understand

running water ecosystems at basin level. Morphometric characteristics represent relatively

simple approaches to describe basin processes and to compare basin characteristics (Mesa

2006) and enable an enhanced understanding of the geological and geomorphic history of a

drainage basin (Strahler 1964). The hydrological characteristics of a river basin can be

interrelated with the physiographic characteristics of the drainage basin, such as size, shape,

slope, drainage density and length of the streams, etc. (Lobeck, 1939, Thornbury, 1954,

Chorley 1969). Hence, morphometric analysis of a basin is a first step, towards understanding

of watershed dynamics. In this paper an attempt is made to study the morphometric aspect of

Morphometric and Terrain analysis of Payaswani River Basin of Kerala and Karnataka States using GIS

Sukumar B, Ahalya Sukumar

International Journal of Geomatics and Geosciences

Volume 4 Issue 2, 2013 357

streams and terrain characteristics of landforms of Payaswani River basin of Kerala and

Karnataka states using GIS.

Pioneering work on the drainage basin morphometry has been carried out by Horton (1932,

1945), Miller (1953), Smith (1950), Morisawa (1962), Leopold et al, (1964), Strahler (1964)

and others. Terrain analysis principles and methods were explained by Burrough et al, (1998),

Wilson and Gallent (2000), Corripio (2003), Quinn et al (1991), Jenson and Domingue (1991),

Moore (1996), Jenson (1997) used digital terrain model for hydrological modeling. In India,

morphometric analyses were carried out by numerous authors. In Kerala, morhometric analysis

is carried out in the river basins of Karamana (Sinha Roy, 1979), Neyyar (Samsuddin, 1980),

Pamba (Rajendran,1982), Kuttiyadi (James et al 1983), Valapattanam (Mahamaya

Chattopadhyay, 1984), Kuppam (Mahamaya Chattopadhyay et al 1986), Chalakudy

(Maya,1997), Meenachil (Vijith et al 2006) Achankovil Manu et al (2008) and Muthirapuzha

(Thomas, 2010).

2. Material and methodology

Survey of India topographic maps on scale 1:50,000 are used for delineation of streams and

river basin. Streams were digitised for stream ordering by Strahler method. Relief map was

prepared based on topographic maps and SRTM data. Based on relief map, slope, aspect and

areas of erosion and deposition analysis were carried out. ArcGIS software and Spatial Analyst

module were used for the study.

2.1 Study area

Payaswani River is situated in the northern part of Kerala in Kasaragod District (Fig.1). It has

an area of 1342 km2. of which, 42.02 per cent of the total area is in Kasaragod district of Kerala

state and 57.98 per cent in Karnataka state. It occupies 28.31 per cent of the total area of

Kasaragod district. It is a sixth order basin. Chandragiri River is an important tributary and a

fifth order basin. Payaswani River originates from south eastern part of Dakshin Kannada

district and western part of Coorg district of Karanataka state and discharge their waters into

Lakshadweep Sea in Kerala. Though Payaswani River is bigger and longer than Chandragiri

River, the name Chandragiri is given at the mouth of the river. It is considered as one of the 41

west flowing rivers in Kerala.

3. Analysis

Payaswani River basin is a sixth order stream. There are 5643 streams in the basin. It has 10

fifth order streams. Among the 10 fifth order sub-basins, Chandragiri is the biggest basin. It

has an area of 368.5 km2.

3.1 Frequency of streams

The classification of streams based on the number and type of tributary junctions, has proven

to be a useful indicator of stream size, discharge, and drainage area (Strahler 1957). According

to Strahler’s stream ordering method, Payaswani River is a sixth order stream. Number of

streams per order is given in the Table 2. Figure 2 shows stream orders of Payaswani River

Basin.





Figure 1: Map showing study area

Table 2: Payaswani River Basin- Stream order and frequency

Stream order No. of streams

1st order 4365

2nd order 982

3rd order 230

4th order 55

5th order 10

6th order 1

Total 5643

3.2 Bifurcation Ratio (Rb)

Bifurcation ratio, a measure of the degree of ramification of drainage network (Mesa 2006),

exercises a significant control over the ‘peakedness’ of runoff (Chorley 1969). The Rb values

usually fall in the range of 3.0 and 5.0 for networks formed on homogeneous rocks (with

least/minimum structural disturbances), on the one hand and hits values higher than 10.0, where

structural controls play dominant roles on the other. The shape of watersheds also exerts a

significant control on Rb. The variations in Rb values are a reflection of the differences in the

shape of stream network. In Payaswani River basin 5th and 6th order streams show bifurcation





ratio more than 5. From this, it is inferred that neotectonic activity might have played a role in

the lower region of the basin. Table.4 shows the bifurcation ratio of Payaswani River basin.

Figure 2: Map showing stream order of Payaswani River basin

Table 4 : Payaswani river basin- Bifurcation ratio

Stream Order Number of streams Bifurcation Ratio

1st order stream 4365

2nd order stream 982 4.44

3rd order stream 230 4.26

4th order stream 55 4.18



Total streams 5643

Stream length is very high in the 1st order stream. Stream lengths by stream order are given in

Table.5.

Table 5: Payaswani river basin - Total stream length by stream order

Length

in

km

1st Order

Length

in

km

2nd

Order

Length

in

km

3rd

Order

Length

in

km

4th Order

Length

in

km

5th Order

Length

in

km

6th

Order

Total

length

in

km

Payaswani

River

basin

4232.2 1172.6 644.5 341.6 268.4 93.6 6752.9





Form factor, drainage texture and Drainage density are the other morphometric parameters

derived using GIS techniques and they are shown in Table.6.

Table 6: Payaswani River basin – Other morphometric parameters

Circularity

ratio

Elangation

ratio

Form

factor

Drainage

Texture

Drainage

Density

Total

Basin 0.16 1.35 0.02 70.63 2.87

3.3 Relief

Relief height varies from mean sea level in the west to 1100 meters in the South East. High

relief is found in the east, south east and south. High relief in the east is mainly due to the

presence of Western Ghafts, especially Brahmagiri hills of Coorg district of Karnataka state.

Undulating low plateau at an elevation of 100m covers most of the western part of the basin,

mainly in the Kasaragod district of Kerala. In the west, the terrain is dissected by incised

meandering rivers and streams. Most part of this low level plateau is covered by hard laterite

duricrust, mainly ferricrete type. Fig.3 shows relief of Payaswani river basin. There are two

erosional surfaces found at 100m and 200m height. They occupy 52.7 per cent and 14.5 per

cent of the total basin area respectively.

Figure 3 : Map showing Relief of Payaswani River Basin





3.4 Slope

Slope of the basin is classified into ten classes. Of which, 3 to 6 degrees category covers 19.7

per cent of the total area of the basin followed by 6 to 9 degrees category with 15.5 per cent.

Slope 0 to 3 degrees category occupies 14.6 per cent of the total basin area. Steep slopes are

found in the east and south east and south along the Western Ghats margin. Fig.4 shows the

distribution of slope in the basin.

Figure 4 : Map showing Slope categories of Payaswani River Basin

3.5 Aspect

Aspect is classified into 10 categories. Of which north direction slope occupies about 17.7 per

cent of the basin, followed by south west and south with 14.7 and 14.6 per cent respectively.

Fig.5 shows distribution of aspect (slope direction) in the basin.

3.6 Areas of erosion and deposition

Payaswani river basin shows mostly of erosional landforms. About 53.5 per cent of the total

area comes under moderate erosion. Most of the areas are under laterite chemical weathering

where sheet erosion is common. Only 27.8 per cent of the basin comes under low deposition.

Fig.6 shows the areas of erosion and deposition of the basin.





Figure 5: Map showing Aspect (Slope direction)

Figure 6 : Map showing areas of erosion and deposition





4. Conclusion

Study of morphometric and terrain analysis is much easier by using GIS technique. Calculation

of morphometric parameters are convenient than conventional calculation. First order streams

were found distributed above 100 meters above mean sea level. Second and third order streams

were found between 100 and 200 meters above mean sea level. Fourth order streams are found

above 60 meters and fifth order streams are found between 60 and 100 meters above mean sea

level. Sixth order stream is found from mean sea level to 100 meters above mean sea level.

From the fluvial morphometric study, it is understood that there is structural control over the

development of land forms. Tectonic forces have played a role in shaping the land forms in the

geologic history. Planation or erosional surface at 100m and 200 meters above mean sea level

indicates polycyclic evolution of the basin. More than 52 per cent of the area occupied between

100 m and 200 m. High bi-furcation ratio in the lower order indicates neotectonic activity in

the coastal region of the district. From the curvature analysis, it is found that the Payaswani

river basin dominated by erosional features than depositional. Outcome of the study would be

useful for applications.

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