Use of Geomatics for Profiling the Characteristics of a Geomorphic Unit: A Case Study of Diana River Basin, Indo-Bhutan Himalayan Foothills Area

Due to the advancement of data science and geographic information scienceGeographic Information Science (GIScience), there is a growing concern of usage of hybrid and real-time database in morphometric studies. Daina is a left-bank tributary of the Jaldhaka River. It originates from Bhutan hills, flows over the Himalayan Piedmont region, and meets the Jaldhaka River in Jalpaiguri. The present chapter deals with the geomorphological assessment of the Daina basin as well as the channel through Geomatics. A geomorphological character has been examined along and across the Daina channel. The planform of the Daina channel has been studied in the last 30 years on the Himalayan Piedmont in Indian jurisdiction. Daina follows a straight path with regular oscillations to give a response of the structural or hydraulic controls, which is reflected through the spatial and temporal variation in magnitude of the bank-line shift of the Daina channel that has been found from Samte to Majhiali Basti. The present chapter deals with the near regular shifting of the Daina channel through the riverbank erosion, which may indicate the geomorphic instability under the Himalayan Piedmont region. Frequent channel wandering under the studied reach of the Samte to Daina-Jaldhaka confluence may take place due to the interaction of slopeSlope instability and fluvial hydraulics, which also impact the bank-line land use. The path of the Daina channel might be guided by structural and/or hydraulic control, as the studied area belongs to the neo-tectonically active Himalayan Piedmont region.