Mapping the Morphometric Characteristics of Jaipanda Watershed

A watershed is a naturally occurring hydrological physical entity that allows surface run-off to drain into a defined channel, stream, or river to a particular point. To map the Earth's surface the geographers for this study used morphometry, which is a measurement and mathematical analysis of the configuration of the Earth's surface. Morphometry takes a lot of factors into account such as the measurement of linear features, gradient of channel network, and the ground slopes. This study covered an area of 403.507km2, it is one of the major tributaries of the Silabati River.

The parameters for the study namely focused on stream length area, perimeter, number of streams, and basin length--all of these factors were derived from the drainage layer of the map. Different landforms were noted in the watershed using ASTER (DEM) data, and of course GIS software. The analyses was carried out through the measurement of linear, arial, and relief aspects of the watershed. 

This study reinforces the idea that a GIS based approach for evaluating morphometric parameters and their influence on other naturally occurring environmental characteristics is very effective, possibly more so than conventional methods. A GIS based approach facilitates analysis of different morphometric parameters and allows exploration of the relationship between the drainage morphometry and properties of landforms, soils and eroded lands.


Works Cited:
PAL, SUBODH CHANDRA, and GOPAL CHANDRA DEBNATH. 2013. "QUANTITATIVE MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF JAIPANDA WATERSHED, WEST BENGAL, INDIA USING ASTER (DEM) DATA AND GIS." Indian Streams Research Journal 3, no. 4: 1-8. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost(accessed September 29, 2013).