Analysis of Basin Morphometry for the Prioritization Using Geo-Spatial Techniques: A Case Study of Debnala River Basin, Jharkhand, India

A crucial step in understanding the issue of land resource management is to perform the morphometric analysis of a river basin in order to determine changing pattern of the river and its basin characteristics. Geospatial techniques (RS and GIS) have recently arisen as vital tools for evaluating environmental issues and ensuring the complete advancement of a river basin area. Both these tools are combinedly used to determine the numerical account of river basin morphometry in an undistinguishable articulate manner. In this venture, basin morphometric methods have been employed to comprehend the type of soil erosion impending in the study area. The present study considers the river basin of Debnala (located in Purba Singbhum District, Jharkhand). River Debnala is a south bank non-perennial tributary of Dulung River which was invented in Jharkhand at an elevation of over 134 m. In the study, different morphometric parameters (Linear, Areal, and Relief) along with DEM alignment have been derived at grid level (1 km2 × 1 km2) over the basin. Finally, all the morphometric parameters have been combined and a weighted score has also been assigned to find the precedence of soil dispassion rate in the study area. The result shows that 1st order stream shows that the fourteen (14) Sub-basin are very high soil erosion potential zone. As a whole in the study area, forty (40) sub-basins recorded very remarkable erosion potential capacity to produce sediments which needs special attention. The result of morphometric analysis-based prioritization shows that soil erosion and sediment production rate are inversely proportional to each other.