International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET)
Volume 10, Issue 04, April 2019, pp. 193-201. Article ID: IJCIET_10_04_021
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijciet/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=10&IType=04
ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316
© IAEME Publication
Scopus Indexed
DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL ELEVATION
MODEL FOR STORM -WATER MODELING
FOR DELTAIC REGIONS OF THANJAVUR
SUBURBS OF SOUTHERN INDIA
Sivasamandy. R
Assistant Professor, Centre for Environmental Engineering, PRIST (Deemed to be
University), Thanjavur
Jose Ravindra Raj. B
Assistant Professor, Department for Civil Engineering, PRIST (Deemed to be University),
Thanjavur.
Aravind. S, Nithin. S, Niraj prabhu. R, Sivabalan. S, Sakthi dharmadurai. S
Department of Civil Engineering, PRIST (Deemed to be University), Thanjavur.
Ashutosh Das
Director, Centre for Environmental Engineering, PRIST (Deemed to be University),
Thanjavur.
ABSTRACT
The frequent monsoon fluctuation in the coastal region of Thanjavur city of Tamil
Nadu, which is known to be the rice bowl of southern India, has been imparting
increasing insecurity in the yield of the crops, but even the very living conditions of the
population, who are mostly dependent on agriculture. Road-expansion (NH-67) of the
recent years involving mass-removal of thousands of trees located at the roadside have
led to micro-climatic variation over the years. Since most of the agricultural land of
the area depends on the irrigation as well as water from canals of Cauvery river, the
precipitation (with respect to quantity, duration, and periodicity) has been the lifeline
of progress and sustenance of this zone. To track the baseline morphological and
lithological regimes of Thanjavur city of Tamil Nadu (India) precisely, which forms the
heart of storm-water modeling, the present study was carried out. The digital elevation
modeling (DEM) was developed, using the topsheet and satellite imageries so as to
evaluate the basis for hydro-geological modeling.
Keywords: Population, DEM, Agriculture
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
193
editor@iaeme.com
Development of Digital Elevation Model for Storm -Water Modeling for Deltaic Regions of
Thanjavur Suburbs of Southern India
Cite this Article: Sivasamandy. R, Jose Ravindra Raj. B, Aravind. S, Nithin. S, Niraj
prabhu. R, Sivabalan. S, Sakthi dharmadurai. S and Ashutosh Das, Development of
Digital Elevation Model for Storm -Water Modeling for Deltaic Regions of Thanjavur
Suburbs of Southern India, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology,
10(4), 2019, pp. 193-201.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=10&IType=04
1. INTRODUCTION
Mapping of land use and land cover (often derived from remote sensing images taken over
various temporal windows for the same region), carried out with due standardization, form a
strong foundation for monitoring, modeling and even forecasting various socio-economical,
hydro-geological and litho-climatic regimes of an area. (Jensen et al, 1983; Rajesh et.al, 2010;
Anderson et al., 1976; Shepard, 1964; Sumathi et al., 2011). Several works have been carried
out using the digital elevation model (DEM) in similar regions in south India for various
purposes. Characterization of topography and drainage in Papanasam and Manimuthar
watersheds of Western Ghats (Magesh et al, 2011), River Thamirabarani sub-basin in
Kanyakumari District(Kaliraj et al, 2015) and Tirunelveli district (Magesh and Chandrasekar,
2014), Carbon sequestration in Eastern ghat (Ramachandran et al,2007), to estimate soil
erosion in the semi-arid Andipatti Watershed (Balasubramani et al, 2015), Selvam, S., Magesh,
N.S., Chidambaram, S. et al. (2015) delineation of groundwater recharge potential zones in
Tuticorin district (Selvam et al,2015), Kovilpatti Municipality (Selvam et al, 2016) and Theni
district (Magesh et al, 2012), sea-level rise impact prediction at Vellar–Coleroon estuarine
region (Saleem Khana, 2012) and at Kanyakumari (Natesan and Parthasarathy, 2010),
Landslide vulnerability mapping in Bodi-Bodimettu Ghat section of Theni district (Kannan et
al,2013) and so forth. Of late, there have been development drainage network from grid-based
in DEM addressing need of ruggedness of terrain to avoid flow in parallel lines along preferred
directions and noise induced by presence artificial pits. (Fairfield and Leymarie, 1991),The
pioneer in quantitative methods for drainage networks has been American hydraulic engineer
and hydrologist Robert E. Horton (Horton, 1945; Eze and Abua, 2002 and Thorne, 2006).,
which was followed by further studies on morphometric evolution of the drainage basins, based
on interactions among the flows of matter and energy and the resistance of the topographical
surface, which involves use of information from maps, aerial photography and/or satellite
imageries and field-survey and estimation of areas, perimeters, lengths, slope gradients,
drainage density and land cover can be calculated directly or through of the application of
formulas and indexes (Zǎvoianu, 1985; Tucci, 1997; Zǎvoianu, 1985; Zǎvoianu, 1985;
Pidwirny, 2000). The aim of this study is to explore the present land use and land cover in the
city of Thanjavur (covering a total area of 38.33 sq.km), located on the east coast of Tamil
Nadu.To identify the study area's DEM analysis, land use and land cover, satellite imagery was
used, enhanced with ERDAS and GIS software (using supervised village level classification,
focusing on four primary blocks, namely Karantattankudi, Medical College (manojipatti),
Yagappanagar, and Thanjavur City. In fact, the study area includes total major land use and
land coverage categories of agricultural land, built up land, water bodies, mixed plantation,
scrub land, without scrubland, river sand, mangroves, aquaculture.
1.1. Study area
Thanjavur City (10o 45'00 '' N to 10o 49 ' 30 ' '' N north latitude and 79o 6' 00 '' E to 79o 10 ' 30
'' E east longitude), stretched over an area of 38.33 sq.kms, is bordered by Thittai village,
Palliagraharam village, Punnainallur village, Surakottai and Gandharvakkottai village. Its
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
194
editor@iaeme.com
Sivasamandy. R, Jose Ravindra Raj. B, Aravind. S, Nithin. S, Niraj prabhu. R, Sivabalan. S,
Sakthi dharmadurai. S and Ashutosh Das
predominant deltaic region is irrigated by the Cauvery and its wide network of branches in
northern and eastern zone, whereas southern and western regions are mostly non-deltaic, being
irrigated by the help of the Grand Anaicut Canal's water resources. The location of the study
area is presented in Fig. 1.
1.2. Geology
Thanjavur primarily consists very thick laterite cap, which consists of impure calcareous and
sandstone varieties of silt, clay - calcareous and argillaceous soil belonging to Cretaceous,
Tertiary and Alluvial formations, with predominantly Alluvial and Tertiary deposits, with a
small Cretaceous patch at west and southwest of Vallam alluvial deposits of Cauvery in the
east, with tributaries overlying Tertiary sandstone (30 m to 400 m thick) (Fig.3)
1.3. Roads and Railways
Thanjavur is well-connected by road networks with a total road length of 2014 km (including
concrete, black topped metal and non metal roads), the main roads being Tiruchirapalli via
Thanjavur to Nagapattinam road, Thanjavur to Thiruvaiyaru and Thanjavur to Pudukkottai.
Besides, the city is connected to all taluk headquarters by well-maintained major district roads.
The district is also well connected by railway network (of Southern Railways) as well, served
by both meter and wide gage railways, with a total length of 151 km possessing 27 railway
stations with one junction (at Thanjavur). (Fig.2)
Figure 1 Location map of the Study area Thanjavur City
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
195
editor@iaeme.com
Development of Digital Elevation Model for Storm -Water Modeling for Deltaic Regions of
Thanjavur Suburbs of Southern India
Figure 2 Roads and railway networks of the Thanjavur City
Figure 3 Geology map of the Study Area
1.4. Rainfall – Distribution
Based on distribution pattern of rainfall in the various taluks of the district of Thanjavur over
a period of 70 years (1927 – 2009) (Srimathi, 2012) Orathanadu receives maximum rainfall
(and the minimum at Thanjavur). In all the taluks, precipitation through North-East monsoon
is almost double compared to that through South-West monsoon. During summer and winter,
the precipitation is rather scanty (Fig.4).
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
196
editor@iaeme.com
Sivasamandy. R, Jose Ravindra Raj. B, Aravind. S, Nithin. S, Niraj prabhu. R, Sivabalan. S,
Sakthi dharmadurai. S and Ashutosh Das
Figure 4 Rainfall Distribution of the Thanjavur District.
1.5. Temperature
The atmospheric temperature data recorded over a 70-year period (1927 - 2009) (Srimathi,
2012) and is presented in fig.5. As indicated from the graph, the hottest period is April- June
(maximum 350 to 360C) and the coldest period is November-January (minimum 230 to 240C).
Figure 5 Average Temperature in the Thanjavur District
1.6. Crop Area
In Thanjavur, paddy (involving three crop-types: Kuruvai, Thaladi and Samba), pulses,
groundnut and sugarcane form the major crops followed by maize, soya bean, red gram, and
gingelly. In fact, in the rice fallows, pulses (namely, black gram and green gram) and cashcrops (namely, cotton and gingelly) are grown.Two basic types of cropping pattern observed
in the deltaic region of study area comprises of old-delta (i.e., network of River Cauvery and
Vennar canals and channels) and new-delta (i.e., irrigated by Grand Anaicut Canal). Groundnut
is the main crop in the new delta area, although sugarcane is grown in both delta-areas. In near
Side River (padugai), bananas are primarily grown. Under irrigated regions are used for
summer crops (namely, pulses, cotton, gingelly, soya bean and groundnut). Of late, cash-crops
like oil palm and soya bean cultivation are being attempted at places with sufficient and secure
water supply and drainage facilities.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
197
editor@iaeme.com
Development of Digital Elevation Model for Storm -Water Modeling for Deltaic Regions of
Thanjavur Suburbs of Southern India
1.7. Industries
Thanjavur being an agricultural region, rice mills are the predominant (totaling, 50 modern rice
mills and 250 traditional rice mills). Besides, there are six gas - based industries in operations,
subject to the availability of natural gas (viz. four chemical industries, one ceramic and one
power-generation). There are 7 coir - based industries (with 2 in the cooperative sectors) and 8
seed farms states working under the control of the District's Agricultural Department (with
annual seed production of 1350 M.T).
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1. Selection of data
The study was used for different primary and secondary data, namely, toposheets and satellite
imagery. A base map was prepared using Survey of India toposheets (58 N/1 and 58 N/ 2;
1:50,000-scale. This study is based primarily on a visual satellite imagery interpretation using
SRTM - WRS-2 GLCF (acquired in 2000, path 142 and row 53), geo-referenced to UTM map
rejection (Zone 43, North) and WGS84 ellipsoid and used for image analysis. ERDAS imagine
9.1 is used to prepare the DEM model.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
3.1. Relief and Physiography (Digital Elevation Model map)
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) the simplest form of digital representation of topography,
representing the digital representation of the land surface elevation, with respect to any
reference datum. As given in Fig 6, based on the DEM, there is a definite and gradual increase
of the elevation of the study area from NE to SW, lowest being 0-15m (at Karantattangudi) and
highest being 60-75m (at Yagappanagar). The lowest elevated regions show high variability as
observed in increasing texture, whereas the highest elevation show more or less uniform relief
(as observed by homogeneity in texture and, hence, lack of structural control). This indicate
the drainage pattern spreading from SW to NE, with more dendrite towards the north-east flowdirection. The width of the intermediate elevated regions (i.e., 15 to 30, 30 to 45 and 45 to 60)
are of relatively lower width compared to highest and lowest elevated zones, thereby
representing some-what plateau-like geomorphology.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
198
editor@iaeme.com
Sivasamandy. R, Jose Ravindra Raj. B, Aravind. S, Nithin. S, Niraj prabhu. R, Sivabalan. S,
Sakthi dharmadurai. S and Ashutosh Das
4. CONCLUSION
Digital Elevation model (DEM) of an area indicate the terrain attributes such as elevation at
any point, slope and aspect and hence plays a very important role in evaluating the terrain
features like (namely, drainage basins and channel networks). This is widely employed in
various hydro-geologic analyses (namely, groundwater modeling, reservoirs-capacity
estimation), , hazard-risk monitoring (namely, landslide probability study, flood prone zone
mapping), natural resources exploration, agricultural management (namely, river basin
evaluation, watershed prioritization for soil and water conservation), strategic planning
(namely, drainage pattern demarcations for basin area planning and management) and so forth.
As indicated by the analysis, the natural topological slope is distinct in the study area, from SW
to NE, indicating the definitive flow-direction, which forms the basis for storm-water modeling
and management approach.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
The authors acknowledge Dept. of Science and Technology (DST): SUTRAM FOR EASY
WATER (DST/TM/WTI/WIC/2K17/82(G)) for financial support for carrying out this research.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
Anderson, J.R., Hardy, E.E., Reach, J.T. and Witmer, R.E. 1976. A Land use and Land
cover classification system for use with Remote sensor data, US Geological Survey
Professional paper 964. U.S. Department of interior, U.S.government printing office,
Washington, D.C., 28pp.
Balasubramani, K., Veena, M., Kumaraswamy, K. et al (2015). Estimation of soil erosion
in a semi-arid watershed of Tamil Nadu (India) using revised universal soil loss equation
(rusle) model through GIS Model, Earth Syst. Environ. 1: 10.
Chaitanya S.Agarwal, Pradeep K. Garg, 2000. Remote sensing in Natural Resources
monitoring and management. Pp.114-116.
Civco, D., Hurd, J., Wilson, E., Song, M and Zhang, Y. A comparison of land use and land
cover change detection methods, 2002.
Congalton, R. G., and Green, K., Assessing the Accuracy of Remotely Sensed Data:
Principles and Practices (Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC/Lewis Press),1996.
Fairfield J, Leymarie P (1991) Drainage networks from grid digital elevation models. Water
Resour Res 30(6):1681–1692
Gautham N.C. and Narayan L.R.A. 1982. Suggested national land use/land cover
classification system for India using remote sensing techniques’, Mathura: Pink Publishing
House.
Jenson.R., Expert system house detection in high spatial Resoulation Imagery using size,
shape, and context, Geocarto International, 2003,18 (1):5 -15.
Jensen, J. R., and Toll, D. L., 1983, Detecting residential land use development at the urban
fringe. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 48, 629–643.
Kaliraj, S., Chandrasekar, N. & Magesh, N.S. (2015) Morphometric analysis of the River
Thamirabarani sub-basin in Kanyakumari District, South west coast of Tamil Nadu, India,
using remote sensing and GIS, Environ Earth Sci 73: 7375
Kannan, M., Saranathan, E. & Anabalagan, R. (2013) Landslide vulnerability mapping
using frequency ratio model: a geospatial approach in Bodi-Bodimettu Ghat section, Theni
district, Tamil Nadu, India, Arab J Geosci 6: 2901.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
199
editor@iaeme.com
Development of Digital Elevation Model for Storm -Water Modeling for Deltaic Regions of
Thanjavur Suburbs of Southern India
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
Magesh, N.S. & Chandrasekar, N. GIS model-based morphometric evaluation of
Tamiraparani subbasin, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, India, Arab J Geosci (2014) 7:
131.
Magesh, N. S.; Chandrasekar, N.; Soundranayagam, John Prince (2011) Morphometric
evaluation of Papanasam and Manimuthar watersheds, parts of Western Ghats, Tirunelveli
district, Tamil Nadu, India: a GIS approach, Environmental Earth Sciences, 64 (2) 373
Magesh, N.S.; Chandrasekar N., Soundranayagam, John Prince (2012) Delineation of
groundwater potential zones in Theni district, Tamil Nadu, using remote sensing, GIS and
MIF techniques, Geoscience Frontiers, 3(2) 189-196
Naik, M. and Jha, R. (2013). “Urban Sprawl of Bhubaneswar city using GIS applications
and entropy.”
Natesan, U. & Parthasarathy, A. (2010) The potential impacts of sea level rise along the
coastal zone of Kanyakumari District in Tamilnadu, India, J Coast Conserv 14: 207
Prabhu Prasad Das and Hrushikesh Sahoo (2014):” A Geospatial Evaluation of SRTM
DEM for Representative Groundwater Sampling of Rajnagar Block, Odisha, India”
International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering Volume 4, Issue
11.
Rajesh,Y. , Divya, P. and Chandrashekara, S. 2010. Land use Land cover change detection
of Hemavathi watershed in Cauvery Basin in Karnataka state using Remote sensing and
GIS. Proceeding of the National seminar on trends in Geospatial Data analysis for
Resources and Environmental management, Madurai Kamarajar university, Madurai pp.
208-209
Ramachandran, A., Jayakumar, S., Haroon, R., Bhaskaran, A., & Arockiasamy, D. (2007).
Carbon sequestration: Estimation of carbon stock in natural forests using geospatial
technology in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. Current Science, 92(3), 323-331.
Rashed,T., Weeks, J.R., Stow, D. and Fugate, D. (2005) Measuring temporal compositions
of urbanmorphology through spectral mixture analysis: toward a soft approach to change
analysis in crowded cities. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 26, 699–718.
Sahu, R.K., (2015)Hydrological Analysis For Urban Water Management
Saleem Khana, A; Ramachandran,A; Usha, N.; Punitha, S.; Selvam V.(2012) Predicted
impact of the sea-level rise at Vellar–Coleroon estuarine region of Tamil Nadu coast in
India: Mainstreaming adaptation as a coastal zone management option, Ocean & Coastal
Management, 69 : 327-339
Santana, L.M. (2007) Landsat ETM+ image applications to extract information for
environmental planning in a Colombian city. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 28,
4225–4242.
Santhi Devi, R. and Victor Rajamanickam, G. 2004. Application of Remote sensing and
GIS Techniques for land use / land cover change analysis in Vedaranyam, Indian Jour. of
Geomorphology, vol,9, (1&2), pp.53-58.
Schneider, A. and Woodcock, C.E. (2008) Compact, dispersed, fragmented, extensive? A
comparison of urban growth in 25 global cities using remotely sensed data, pattern metrics
and census information. Urban Studies, 45, 659–692.
Selvam, S., Magesh, N.S., Chidambaram, S. et al. (2015) A GIS based identification of
groundwater recharge potential zones using RS and IF technique: a case study in
Ottapidaram taluk, Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu Environ Earth Sci 73: 3785.
Selvam, S., Dar, F.A., Magesh, N.S. et al. (2016) Application of remote sensing and GIS
for delineating groundwater recharge potential zones of Kovilpatti Municipality, Tamil
Nadu using IF technique Earth Sci Inform 9: 137.
Sherbinin, A.D., Balk, D., Jaiteh, M. et al. (2002) A CIESIN Thematic Guide to Social
Science Applications of Remote Sensing.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
200
editor@iaeme.com
Sivasamandy. R, Jose Ravindra Raj. B, Aravind. S, Nithin. S, Niraj prabhu. R, Sivabalan. S,
Sakthi dharmadurai. S and Ashutosh Das
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
Small, C. and Nicholls, R.J. (2003) A global analysis of human settlement in coastal
zones.Journal of Coastal Research, 18, 584–599.
Srimathi, S (2012) Economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs through self-help
groups: a study with special reference to Thiruvarur & Thanjavur districts of Tamil Nadu
State, Ph. D Thesis (Chapter-4), Bharathidasan University. Available at
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/9526/8/08_chapter%204.pdf
Sumathi, M, et al., 2011. An analysis on land use / land cover using remote sensing
Techniques- A case study of Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu, Iindia, International Journal
of Current Research, Vol. 33, Issue, 6, pp.304- 307, June, 2011.
S.Tamilenthi et al Detecting land use and land cover changes of Thanjavur block in
Thanjavur district, Tamilnadu, India from 1991 to 2009 using geographical information
systemAdvances in Applied Science Research, 2012, 3 (2):986-993.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp
201
editor@iaeme.com