International Journal of Science, Technology & Management http://www.ijstm.com Volume No.02, Issue No. 03, March 2013 ISSN (online): 2394-1537 39 | Page QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF DRAINAGE SYSTEM IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF PRIORITISATION OF WATERSHEDS Kaushal N 1 , Sourabh Singh 2 1 PG Student, Department of Civil Engineering, SSM College of Engineering, Tamil Nadu, (India) 2 Head of the Department, Department of Civil Engineering, SSM College of Engineering, Tamil Nadu, (India) ABSTRACT The quantitative analysis of drainage system is an important aspect of prioritisation of watersheds. Using watershed as a basic unit in morphometric analysis is the most logical choice because all hydrologic and geomorphic processes occur within the watershed. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the quantitative geomorphological analysis of micro watersheds of Ghataprabha river sub-basin in Karnataka, India. The study region lies between 16° 12’ 16’’ N to 16° 30’ 1’’ N latitude and 74° 45’ 18’’ E to 75° 44’ 58’’ E longitude of northern Karnataka. The twelve micro watersheds of sub basins (KSNU032 and KSNU033) have been prioritized using GIS by determining the areal, linear, and relief parameters based on morphometric analysis on the basis of Survey of India Toposheets at 1:50,000 scale, CARTOSAT-1 DEM data, and RESOURCESAT-2 LISS-III data. Each morphometric characteristic is considered as a single parameter and knowledge based weightage has been assigned. The compound parameter values are calculated and the micro watershed with lowest compound weight is given highest priority. The results of this analysis would be useful in determining the effect of watershed characteristics such as size, shape, slope of the watershed & distribution of stream network within the watershed which intern useful for planning watershed management. Keywords: Geo-Morphology, Prioritisation, Micro-Watersheds, Remote Sensing, Ghataprabha River I. INTRODUCTION Morphometry is the measurement and mathematical analysis of the configuration of the earth’s surface, shape and dimension of its landforms (Clarke, 1966). The drainage basin is the landform commonly analysed in morphometry. The morphometric characteristics at the watershed scale may contain important information regarding its formation and development because all hydrologic and geomorphic processes occur within the watershed (Singh, 2006). The quantitative analysis of drainage system is an important aspect of characteristics of watershed (Strahler, 1964) since they were made predominantly by surface fluvial runoff which has very important climatic, geologic and biologic effects e.g. Sharp and Malin, (1975), Laity and Malin (1985), Malin and Edgett (2000), Hynek and Phillips (2003),