International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, Volume 2, Issue 5, M ay-2013
ISSN 2278-7763
301
Estimation of groundwater prospectus zone mapping and morphometric
analysis of WRD-4 watershed in Wardha District of Maharashtra, India
using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques
Khadri, S.F.R. and Kanak N.Moharir
Department of Geology,
Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati-444602 (MS), India
e.mail:syedkhadri_62@yahoo.com
Abstract
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow the viewing and analysis of multiple
layers of spatially related information associated with a geographical location or region. GIS
enables companies and governments to easily analyze the development, maintenance, and
impact of roads, vegetation, utilities (water, electrical, communication, sewage). The main
component of the earth surface is the water, so that RS and GIS is effective utilization in
ground water prospecting and watershed management. Sustainable water resources
development and management necessarily depends on proper planning, implementation,
operation and maintenance. GIS and Remote Sensing techniques have to be effectively used
to replace, complement and supplement ground data collection in various facets of different
kinds of water resources projects. The synoptic large area repetitive coverage provided by
satellite sensors when integrated with detailed time series information coming from ground
sensors can provide appropriate data base which would lead to sustainable water resources
development. Even though it is difficult to work out cost-benefit analysis of Remote Sensing
applications in water resources management, many case studies and detailed discussions with
the experts of the subject have proves that the cost of development can be brought down
when Remote Sensing has been used along with conventional methods. This article provides
an overview of application of Remote Sensing Techniques in various phases of water
resources development and management, either independently or in association with
conventional methods. The database is created using various techniques for the watershed
management, i.e Morphometric analysis, Land Use and Land Cover and estimation of ground
water prospecting zone. The principal source of ground water recharge in the Wardha district
is through rainfall, The Remote Sensing is the gift for watershed analysis and in locating
ground water prospectus zones. In this study an attempt has been made to understand the
groundwater potential zone mapping and morphometric analysis of the WRD-4 watershed in
Wardha District of Maharashtra, India using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques. Soil and
water conservation measures have been suggested to the watershed to evaluate the hydrologic
response of the measures undertaken. The results of morphometric analysis indicate negative
correlation of stream order with the total number of streams present in the drainage Basin.
The study reveals that remotely sensed data and GIS based approach is more appropriate than
the conventional methods for the evaluation of drainage morphometric parameters and their
influence on landforms, soils and eroded land characteristics at watershed level. Regional and
local trends of geological setup are reflected in the variable orientation of channels of
different rank in the catchment.
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Key words: Morphometric analysis, ground water prospectus zone map, soil maps, Land
Use and Land Cover, Geographical information system, Remote sensing.
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Introduction
GIS includes maps, vector information, and imagery. The collection of imagery is
commonly achieved through remote sensing. Remote sensing started with aerial photography
in the late 1800's onboard a balloon. Airplanes were used to collect information from above
in the early 1900's and the first image taken from space was aboard the Apollo spacecraft in
1969. In the early 1970s the first imaging satellite (ERTS-1) collected imagery of the Earth.
Images continue to be collected from both space and aircraft and are available for commercial
and personal use on the Internet. The challenge for Remote Sensing images for GIS and other
applications is the size of the image. Currently, it is common to have images that are greater
than 10,000 by 10,000 pixels, multiple bands, and greater than 8 bits per pixel per band.
While JPEG DCT is currently being used for the collection, storage and delivery of several
GIS applications and remote sensing systems, other compression and file format techniques
have become popular because of greater efficiency of storing and accessing large images.
Water is the most important renewable and finite natural resources since it is required
for agriculture, industry and domestic purposes. Managing water resources is a major
challenge for the country. Land and water are valuable and essential resources which form
the basis of all the life and forms key resource in all economic activities ranging from
agriculture to industry (Rokade, et al. 2004). Water resources development calls for
addressing the key issues of storage, conversation and subsequently utilization. The main
objectives of the study are to collect ancillary data and generate different thematic maps from
satellite data and to prepare implementable water and land resources development action plan
supported by various thematic maps like, base map, drainage map, geological map,
geomorphological map, and land use/land cover map. Water resources development is a
continuous process which has to be resorted on account of ever-increasing demands (Arnold,
et al.1990). A GIS is a composite of computer based decision support tools for the integration
of spatial data from different sources and for the analysis, manipulation and display of these
data (Anji Reddy, 2001). The Remote Sensing and GIS have been widely used for
understanding the causes of study area. Utility of the Remote Sensing data has also been
amply demonstrated through a number of studies (Tiwari and Kudarat 1988; Bhan et al.
1989; Tiwari et al. 1991; Raghubanshi et al. 1991). Therefore, present study is to understand
the Morphometric analysis and watershed management in Wardha district using RS and GIS
approaches. The topographic information in SOI topomaps aids in interpreting satellite
imagery. Three major geomorphic units are distinguished such as hills and plateaus, piedmont
zones, and plains- based on physiography and relief. Within each zone different geomorphic
units will be mapped based on landform characteristics, their areal extent, depth of
weathering, thickness of deposition, etc. Specific stream pattern develops in response to the
initial topography of an area and the distribution of the rock types of varying erosion
resistance. The shape of the pattern depends on rock, soil, climate and the changes made to
the river. Drainage patterns are good indicator of the underlying rock types, structural
features, nature of terrain and topography.
Study Area
The study area WRD-4 which is located in the survey of India toposheet Nos. 55L/13,
55L/14 and having latitude 78°46'54"E 20°56'40"N and longitude 78°58'50"E 20°56'34"N
(Fig.1) is present in the Wardha district of Maharashtra. The data require for watershed
management includes drainage morphometry, ground water prospectus zones and Satellite
image of the study area.
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Fig.1: location map of WRD-4 watershed area.
Methodology
The study area WRD-4 which is located in the survey of India toposheet Nos. 55L/13
and 55L/14 is present in the Wardha district of Maharashtra. The database is created using
various techniques for the watershed management; the maps are prepared by georefrencing
and digitization from SOI toposheet using Arc GIS 10. Attributes were assigned to create the
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digital database. The Survey of India Toposheets of scale 1: 50,000 are used for delineating
the watershed boundary, drainage pattern for the preparation of base map and extracting
different thematic layers for the various part of analysis namely drainage, road and water
bodies etc. The order was assigned stream by following Strahler, (1964) stream ordering
technique. Various morphometric parameters, such as linear aspects of the drainage network:
stream order (N u ), stream length (L u ), and bifurcation ratio (R b ), and areal aspects of the
drainage basin: drainage density (D d ), as presented in Table (2).
The groundwater zonal distribution of climates, soil types, and vegetation between the
poles and the equator is a well known fact. Groundwater zonal distribution of natural
phenomena was first establish by V.V. Dokuchaev, a prominent Russian pedologist which is
presented in table 3. Land Use/Land Cover analysis is carried out with the help of LISS III
open source satellite image. The supervised, unsupervised classification techniques and
ground truth verification method used for the preparation of land use/ land cover map.
Various features are identified and distinguished using interpretation key and visual
interpretation technique.
Morphometric analysis
Drainage Morphometry is found to be very important in evaluating drainage pattern
and watershed management programs of the watershed area. The study area is dominated by
erosional land forms like lava plateau, lava plains, linear ridges, conical hills, mesa, butte and
escarpments, and depositional landforms such as alluvial cones, alluvial fans, and Bajada
deposits. WRD-4 Watershed area, which is one of the tributary of the Wardha River, Remote
Sensing (RS), Geographical Information System (GIS) has proved to be an effective tool in
delineation of drainage pattern and it provides effective solutions to overcome most of the
problems of land and water resources planning and management arising due to usage of
conventional methods of data collection. The occurrence and movement of groundwater in an
area is governed by several factors, such as topography, lithology, geomorphology, structure,
land use and interrelationship between these factors Jaiswal, et.al.,(2003). Morphometry is
the measurement and mathematical analysis of configuration of the earth surface and the
shape and dimensions of its landforms (Thornbury, 1969). The drainage analysis of WRD-4
watershed in Wardha tributary has been carried out quantitatively including linear, aerial and
relief aspects. In the linear aspects, the stream order, stream length, bifurcation ratio, mean
lengths of streams, stream length ratio, and mean stream length ratio are analyzed (Table 1).
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Fig.2: Drainage map of WRD-4 watershed.
Table 1: Stream order and number of streams
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Order of Stream No. of stream segments
I
II
III
IV
V
Total Stream
106
62
24
7
1
200
Bifurcation
Ratio
1.71
2.58
3.42
7
-
305
Length of Stream (Km)
97.34
54.74
24.70
5.20
16.31
198.31
Drainage Density which is calculated given below:
Drainage Density = Total Length of steams of all orders
Area
= 198.31
152.09
= 1.303
Table2: Morphometric parameters of WRD-4 watershed
Sr. No
Parameters
Symbols
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Area of the basin
Total Stream Length
Mean Stream Length
Stream Length Ratio
Total No. of Streams
Basin Length
Perimeter
A
Lb
L SM
RL
P
N
Lb
Values Obtained
(KM)
152.09
198.31
1.00
2.26
200
21.58
70.21
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Ground water prospectus zone
Groundwater zonation is closely related to the climatic zonation of the surface
formation and the factors observed at the earth surface, namely vegetation, soil and
weathering trends. The groundwater in the district which is showing the variation and covers
the specific area. There are eight type of the ground water prospectus zoning types which are
shown in the table. The total area is eighty one square kilometer covered by the ground water
prospectus zones in the Wardha district of Maharashtra.
Table 3 Ground water prospectus zones of WRD-4 watershed
Ground water Prospectus zones
Area (sq. km)
Very-good
2
Very good to good
5
Good
16
Habitation
28
Moderate
13
Moderate-to-poor
10
Poor
1
Poor-to-nil
4
Total
81
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Fig.3: Ground water prospectus zone map of wrd-4 watershed.
Land Use / Land Cover
Knowledge of land use and hydro-geomorphology is important for planning and
management activities concerned with the surface of the earth. The resource managers and
planners for agricultural land use need detailed, timely, accurate and reliable data on the
extent, location and quality of land and water resources and climate characteristics. Land use
refers to man’s activities and the varied uses which are carried on over land and land cover
refers to natural vegetation, water bodies, rock/soil, artificial cover and others noticed on the
land (NRSA, 1989). The land use/ land cover is derived from the LISS-III Open Source
satellite image using image classification techniques such as supervised and unsupervised.
The most of the land is under agricultural crop land in the present study area and other area is
covered by forest, built up, waste land, and Water body. Land use describes how a parcel of
land is used such as for agriculture, settlements or industry, where as land cover refers to the
material such as vegetation, rocks or water bodies that are present on the earth surface. The
water bodies include river, canal, tank, pond and reservoir etc.
Table 4 Land Use / LAND Cover of WRD-4 Watershed
land use
area (sq. km)
Agriculture
132.28
Built- up
2.24
Forest
0.71
Waste land
15.62
Water bodies
1.20
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International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, Volume 2, Issue 5, M ay-2013
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Total area
307
152.08
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Fig.4: land use/ land cover map of wrd-4 watershed
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Soil Texture Analysis
Soil is important upper layer of the earth surface to support crop and vegetation for
the economic development and food requirement of the human. The soil information for the
study area was digitized from the soil map. Generally, seven (7) types of soil had been
identified in the study area. At the lower area of watershed consists of clayey soil. The soil
types of study area are clayey soil, clay loam, clayey, gravely clay, gravely clay loam,
gravely sandy loam, sandy clay, and gravely sandy clay. The erosion of the top soil decreases
the productivity of land and leads to failure of crops.
Table 4 Soil texture analysis of WRD-4 Watershed.
Soil texture
Area sq km
Clayey
113.56
Silty Clay
1.00
Clay Loam
5.00
Gravelly Clay
7.00
Gravelly Clay Loam
19.79
Gravelly Sandy Loam
2.34
Habitation Mask
2.18
Water body
1.16
Total Soil Texture
152.08
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Fig.5: Soil texture map of WRD-4 watershed area
Summary and Conclusions
Optimal utilization of land and water resources is essential for sustainable
development. Resource management using watersheds as an organizing unit has proven to be
an effective scale for natural resource management. It presents a common reference point for
the many different activities and actors that affect the system, and promotes greater
integration and collaboration among those actions. Remote sensing and its image processing
technology provide access to spatial and temporal information on watershed, regional,
continental and global scales (Yassir Arafat 2010). Further, new sensors and imaging
technology are increasing the capability of remote sensing to acquire information at a variety
of spatial and temporal scales. The scope of hydrological applications has broadened
dramatically, although the problems of flood protection and water resources management
continue to be of importance and relevance for the security of communities and for human,
social and economic development (Rokade, et al. 2004).GIS and remote sensing applications
have proved to be indispensable tools in decision making in the case of problem involving
watershed conservation because of the enormity of spatial data involved. In this present
study, illustration of how we can benefit from remote sensing and GIS technologies in
watershed management and planning. Watershed management is the process of creating and
implementing plans, programs, and projects to sustain and enhance watershed functions that
affect the plant, animal, and human communities within a watershed boundary. The remote
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sensing data combined with field survey data can provide a unique and hybrid database for
optimal planning and management of watershed. Space borne remote sensing technology is a
unique tool to provide spatial, multi-spectral and repetitive information for effective
planning. The land forms along with slope gradient and relief intensity are other parameters
to determine the type of water harvesting and water conservation structures. This study has
provided information regarding the soil map, land use land cover, slope map,
Geomophological parameters, drainage density map, drainage pattern, Morphometric analysis
and watershed Management response in WRD-4 Watershed in Wardha District Maharashtra,
India. The detailed morphometric analysis of the study area shows that the presences of
dendritic drainage pattern with the occurrence of fifth order stream. At some places local
radial drainage pattern is also seen. On the basis of stream channel systems to horizontal
plain, various morphometric parameters such as length, area and arrangement etc are
computed. In this study an attempt has been made to understanding the complexities of the
landforms by using multivariate statistical analysis.
The results of morphometric analysis indicates negative correlation of stream order
with the total number of streams present in the drainage Basin. The study reveals that
remotely sensed data and GIS based approach is more appropriate than the conventional
methods for the evaluation of drainage morphometric parameters and their influence on
landforms, soils and eroded land characteristics at watershed level. Regional and local trends
of geological setup are reflected in the variable orientation of channels of different rank in the
catchment.
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