International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 10, October 2013) 219 Geoinformatic Techniques For Morphometric Analysis of Tarapur Creek Catchment, India Atish N. Patil 1 , Sagar P. Mali 2 , Dr. M. B. Potdar 3 1,2 Research Student, Department of Geography, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Shivaji University, Kolhapur Abstract— Morphometric analysis as practiced in geomorphology that may be applied to a particular kind of landform or to drainage basins and large regions generally. Morphometric analysis of a watershed provides a quantitative description of a drainage system that is why morphometric analysis of drainage system is required as a prior condition to assessment of hydrological characteristics of surface water basin. It is an important aspect of the watershed characterization. In this present study attempt has been to study the morphometric characteristics of Tarapur creek catchment. The study region comprises 31.02 sq km. Keywords— Morphometric Analysis, Watershed, Geomorphology, Creek Catchment. I. INTRODUCTION Morphometry is the measurement and mathematical analysis of the configuration of the earth's surface, shape and dimension of its landforms (Agarwal, 1998; Obi Reddy et.al, 2002). A major emphasis in geomorphology over the past several decades has been on the development of quantitative physiographic methods to describe the evolution and behavior of surface drainage networks (Horton, 1945; Leopold & Maddock, 1953; Abrahams, 1984). Morphometric studies involve evaluation of streams through the measurement of various stream properties. A drainage basin is an area defined by a topographic boundary that diverts all runoff to a single outlet. The topographic boundary that separate runoff between two basins is the drainage divide. The delineation of drainage basin can be done manually using topographic information. On the other hand, the widespread availability of elevation data in digital format has bolstered the development of automated tools that can be used to delineate drainage basin and their associated stream network. The creek is a body of water partially enclosed by land, and with a mouth opening to the sea (United Nations, 1983). It extends from the landward limit of tidal facies at its head to the seaward limit of coastal facies at its mouth, and covers the range of intertidal flat and some offshore water area (Buatois,L.A,et al.,2003).With ascendant natural resources, dominant geographic location and environment condition, the creek area has become a natural region which is not only the most active of the earth surface, but also a part of coastal zone. With highest intensity of human activities (Edition Committee of the Creek Chorography in China, 1999; Hugo,V.Z.et al.,2008). According to the definition, an integrated creek includes three parts: backshore land area, tidal zone, and alongshore sea area. The creek mouth is the borderline of creek and sea, the mean low-tide line is the borderline of sea area and tidal zone, while the mean high-tide line is the borderline of tidal zone and coastline. Therefore, a creek can be seen as a systematic structure formed by four axes: creek mouth, mean low-tide line, coastline, land boundary, and three areas surrounded by these axes, namely alongshore land area, tidal zone, and alongshore sea area. Among these four axes, the up-boundary of land area can be established as the catchment boundary. Figure 1 is the sketch map of the conceptual model of the spatial morphological of creek. II. STUDY AREA The region selected for present study Tarapur creek located in the Thane district of Maharashtra on the Arabian Sea coast near Dahanu. The distance of study area from Mumbai is near about 170km.The Study area is lies to the South of Dahanu. The extent of the area is 72°40'47.36"E to 72°44'45.20"E longitude and 19°50'30.38"N to 19°54'32.97"N latitude. The total catchment area is 31.02 s.q.k.m. The maximum north south stretch is 8.33 km. wide and the maximum east west wide is 6.70 km.