Mapping and Prioritizing Flash-Flood Susceptible Watersheds in the Warana Basin, India: A Morphometric Analysis and Total Ranking Approach for Resilience Planning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58825/jog.2024.18.1.90Keywords:
Warana, Arc Swat, Morphometric analysis, Flash flood, Prioritization, Geospatial technology, DEMAbstract
The efficiency of flood management is greatly influenced by the physical characteristics of a river basin. Morphometric Analysis is a prominent method used for quantitatively analyzing a river basin. In this study, 22 parameters were selected, some directly and some inversely related to flash floods, from various aspects such as basic, linear, shape, relief, and hypsometric, for the Warana River basin. We delineated 13 sub-watersheds and employed GIS techniques to directly measure basic parameters from the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), while others were calculated using mathematical formulas. The sub-watersheds of the Warana basin were prioritized using the total rank method. The morphometric analysis revealed that the Warana basin was a sixth-order basin with a total area of approximately 2085 km2, a length of 104.75 km, and a perimeter of 460 km. The mean bifurcation ratio of 1.79 indicates a structurally less-disturbed watershed. However, despite the low structural disturbance, 8 out of the 13 sub-watersheds, accounting for 59.5% of the area, were highly susceptible to flooding, ranging from high to very high susceptibility. The findings of this study can be utilized by relevant authorities to implement appropriate measures for reducing losses caused by flash floods and the development of prevention, protection, and mitigation plans.
References
Adhikari S. (2020). Morphometric Analysis of a Drainage Basin: A Study of Ghatganga River, Bajhang District, Nepal. The Geographic Base, 7, 127-144. 10.3126/tgb.v7i0.34280.
Ali S. A. and N. Khan (2013). Evaluation of Morphometric Parameters—A Remote Sensing and GIS Based Approach. Open Journal of Modern Hydrology, Scientific research, 3, 20-27. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojmh.2013.31004
Bisht S., S. Chaudhry, S. Sharma and S. Soni (2018). Assessment of flash flood vulnerability zonation through geospatial technique in high altitude Himalayan watershed, Himachal Pradesh India. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 12, 35–47.
Farhan Y. and O. Anaba (2016). Flash flood risk estimation of Wadi Yutum (southern Jordan) watershed using GIS based: Morphometric analysis and remote sensing techniques. Open Journal of Modern Hydrology, 6, 79–100.
Gizachew K. and G. Berhan (2018). Hydro-geomorphological characterization of Dhidhessa River Basin, Ethiopia. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, 6, 175–183.
Gregory K. J., D. E. Walling (1973) Drainage basin form and process- a geomorphological approach. Edward Arnold Pub. Ltd., London, p 321
Horton R. E. (1932). Drainage basin characteristics. Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 13, 350–361. doi:10.1029/TR013i001p00350
Horton R. E. (1945). Erosional development of streams and their drainage basins; hydrophysical approach to quantitative morphology. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 56, 275–370.
Magesh N. S., N. Chadrasekar and J. P. Soundranagyagam (2011). Morphometric evaluation of Papanasam and Manimuthar watersheds, part of Western Ghats. Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, India: A GIS approach. Environmental Earth Sciences, 64, 374–381.
Magesh N. S., K.V. Jitheshlal and N. Chandrasekar (20013). Geographical information system-based morphometric analysis of Bharathapuzha river basin, Kerala, India. Applied Water Science, 3, 467–477.
Mehar R., M. K. Verma and R. K. Tripathi (2018). Hypsometric Analysis of Sheonath River Basin, Chhatisgarh, India: A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach. International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology, 7.
Melton M. A. (1957). Correlations structure of morphometric properties of drainage systems and their controlling agents. Journal Geology, 66, 442–460.
Mesa L. M. (2006). Morphometric analysis of subtropical Andean basin (Tucuman, Argentina). Environmental Geology, 50, 1235–1242.
Miller V. C. (1953). A quantitative geomorphic study of drainage basin characteristics on the Clinch Mountain area, Virginia and Tennessee, Proj. NR 389–402, Tech Rep 3. New York: Columbia University, Department of Geology, ONR.
Mutawakil O., A. Muheeb, F. A. Hantouli, (2021) Morphometric analysis and prioritization of watersheds for flood risk management in Wadi Easal Basin (WEB), Jordan, using geospatial technologies. Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management. Journal of Flood Risk Management. Wiley. Doi: 10.1111/jfr3.12711.
Patel D., M. Dholakia, N. Naresh and P. Srivastava (2012). Water harvesting structure positioning by using geo-visualization concept and prioritization of mini-watersheds through morphometric analysis in the Lower Tapi Basin. Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, 40, 299–312.
Pavano F., S. Catalano, G. Romagnoli and G. Tortorici (2018). Hypsometry and relief analysis of the southern termination of the Calabrian arc, NE Sicily (southern Italy). Geomorphology, 304, 74–88.
Prabhakaran A. and R. N. Jawahar (2018). Drainage morphometric analysis for assessing form and processes of the watersheds of Pachamalai hills and its adjoining, Central Tamil Nadu, India. Applied Water Science, 8, 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-018-0646-5
Rastogi R. A. and T. C. Sharma (1976) Quantitative Analysis of Drainage Basin Characteristics. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation in India, 26, 18-25.
Schumm S. (1956). Evolution of drainage systems and slopes in badlands at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 67, 597–646.
Selvan M. T., S. Ahmad and S.M. Rashid M. (2011). Analysis of the geomorphometric parameters in high altitude glacierised terrain using SRTM DEM data in central Himalaya, India. ARPN Journal of Science and Technology, 1(1), 22–27.
Sharma P., et al. (2021) Geomorphic Approach for Identifying Flash Flood Potential Areas in the East Rapti River Basin of Nepal. ISPRS International Journal of Geoinformatics, 10, 247. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijgi10040247.
Soni S. (2017). Assessment of morphometric characteristics of Chakrar watershed in Madhya Pradesh India using geospatial technique. Applied Water Science, 7, 2089–2102.
Strahler A. (1952). Hypsometric (area-altitude) analysis of erosional topography. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 63, 1117–1142.
Strahler A. (1957). Quantitative analysis of watershed geomorphology. Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 38, 913–920.
Strahler A. (1964). Quantitative geomorphology of drainage basins and channel networks. In V. Chow (Ed.), Handbook of applied hydrology (pp. 439–476). New York: McGraw Hill.
Yahya F., A. Omar and S. Ali (2016). Morphometric Analysis and Flash Floods Assessment for Drainage Basins of the Ras En Naqb Area, South Jordan Using GIS. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, Scientific Research Publishing, 4, 9-33. Doi:10.4236/gep.2016.46002
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Geomatics
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
