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Abstract
The present study is aimed at characterization of the drainage network of Bagh River, a sub-basin of Narmada River, Central India. For above purpose a detailed morphometric analysis of Bagh River has been done by using SRTM data at a resolution of 90×90m using Arc GIS 10 software. The Bagh River covering an area of 1812 km2, a perimeter of 179.33 km has a basin length of 59.36 km. Morphometric analyses indicate dominance of first order streams (n=128) ranging up to fifth order. The river has high value of basin relief, high surface run-off, high sediment transport, low infiltration rate coupled with a less elongated nature of the basin. The drainage patterns are mostly dendritic in nature and the average value of bifurcation ratio is 3.84 for this basin reveals that the drainage patterns are not influenced by geological structures in the basin area like lineaments and faults. The drainage density shows a highly permeable rock type, dense vegetation and coarse drainage texture for the area. The morphometric parameters their hydrological significance for planning the water resource management during precipitation.
Keywords: Bagh River,Narmada River, Central India, Bifurcation ratio, SRTM data.
1. Introduction
Morphometric analysis using remote sensing techniques has emerged as a powerful tool in recent decades. Morphometry deals with the measurement and mathematical modelling of the earth's surface configuration and the shape and dimension of its landforms (Clarke, 1996). This is a very useful tool to know about drainage characteristics and morphological features of a river basin. This can also a provide synoptic view of a large area at one time and is very useful in analyzing drainage dynamics and its evolutionary patterns (Rudraiah et al. 2008;Mesa, 2006; Singh and Awasthi, 2011;Prakash et al. 2015; Singh and Kanhaiya, 2015). The morphometric parameters of the river basin are very helpful in flood analysis and also govern the hydrological response of the river basin (Sinha and Jain, 1998).
2. Basin setup
The Bagh River flows through the historical monuments of Bagh caves which are popular for their engravings of Buddha by the Satwahana Kings during Gupta's period. The river flows in Kukshi and Dhar districts of Madhya Pradesh and extends from 74°33'0" E to 75°53'0"E longitude and 22°15'0"N to 22°15'0" latitude (Fig.1). The area...