INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOMATICS AND GEOSCIENCES
Volume 4, No 1, 2013
© Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services
Research article ISSN 0976 – 4380
Submitted on August 2013 published on October 2013 224
Morphometric analysis of Urmodi basin, Maharashtra using geo-spatial
techniques
Subhash Chavare, Sambhaji D.Shinde
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Chhatrapati Shivaji College, Satara (MS)
subhash.mtech44@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Morphometric analysis was carried out to analyze and determine the drainage pattern and
characteristics of Urmodi river basin using topographical maps, SRTM data and geo-spatial
technique. The study area, Urmodi river basin is one of the sub-basin of Krishna river basin in
Satara district of Maharashtra and it covers 412. 29 sq. km area. Morphometric parameters like
stream order, stream length, bifurcation ratio, drainage density, stream frequency, relief ratio,
elongation ratio, circularity ratio and compactness constant are calculated using various
techniques. The drainage density of the basin is 3.30 km/sq. km.
Keywords: Morphometric analysis, Geo-Spatial Techniques, Urmodi basin
1. Introduction
Morphometry is defined as the measurement of the shape and mathematical analysis of
drainage (Clarke, 1966). Morphometric studies in the field of hydrology were first initiated by
Horton (1940) and Strahler (1950). Geo-spatial technologies, such as Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS), are efficient tools in delineation of watershed and
drainage network for the water resources planning and management. In the present study
attempt has been made to analysis the nature and structure of Urmodi basin by applying various
morphometric techniques. The morphometric analysis of the drainage basin and channel
network play a vital role for understanding the hydrological behavior of drainage basin and to
analyze flood, geological and geomorphological structure.
1.1 Objective of the study
The main objective of the present work is analyzing the morphometric characteristics of
Urmodi basin using Geo-spatial techniques.
2. Study area
The study area Urmodi river basin extends between 17
0
28’ to 17
0
44’ N Latitude and 73
0
47’
to 74
0
7’ E Longitude and it covers the 412.29 sq.km area (Figure 1). The Urmodi basin is one
f the sub-basin of Krishna river basin in Satara district of the Maharashtra state situated in
western Maharashtra. Major part of the Basin is undulating and hilly area. The upper river
course is surrounded by Sahyadri off shoots and water divider. The average height of this area
is 950 m above mean sea level.
2.1 Database and methodology
The Survey of India toposheet numbers 47 G/14, 47K/2, and 47K/3, on the scale of 1:50000
were used for the present study. The topomaps are georeferenced and rectified using ArcGIS