%0 Journal Article
%T Morphometric Analysis to Infer Hydrological Behaviour of Lidder Watershed, Western Himalaya, India
%A Farrukh Altaf
%A Gowhar Meraj
%A Shakil A. Romshoo
%J Geography Journal
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/178021
%X West Lidder River, in the Northwest Greater-Himalayan mountain range, is the major source of irrigation and drinking water supplies for the Kashmir Valley with a population of seven million people. The major source of water for the whole Lidder River is snow and icemelt emanating from its two subcatchments East Lidder and West Lidder. Snowmelt significantly contributes to the evolution of drainage patterns in this area. Quantitative morphometry plays a vital role in routing the snowmelt and other hydrological processes. Morphometric analysis of the West Lidder River catchment was carried out using geospatial technique. The outcome revealed that the entire study area has uniform lithology and is structurally permeable. The high drainage density of all subwatersheds indicate more surface runoff. The morphometric analysis also indicates that the area is more prone to weathering due to very-coarse to coarse drainage texture. All the subwatersheds showed dendritic to subdendritic drainage pattern. An immense control of structure on the drainage in some subwatersheds is indicated by their high bifurcation ratios. Circulatory and elongation ratios show that the subwatersheds have elongated to circular shapes. From the integrated analysis of the morphometric parameters, important hydrologic behaviour of 17 subwatersheds could be inferred. 1. Introduction The measurement and mathematical analysis of the configuration of the earth¡¯s surface, shape, and dimension of its landforms is called morphometry [1¨C3]. To understand the evolution and behaviour of drainage patterns, several quantitative methods have been developed [4, 5]. In hydrology, basin drainage characteristics are fundamental in understanding various hydrological processes. Since watershed is the basic unit in hydrology; therefore, morphometric analysis at watershed scale is advantageous and preferable rather carry it out on individual channel or inconsistent segment areas. Watershed is an area of surface whose major runoff is conveyed to the single outlet and is the appropriate unit to study several processes of the land surface. For example, watershed is considered a fundamental erosional landscape element, wherein conspicuous interaction of land and water resources takes place. Being fundamental units of fluvial terrain, considerable research focal point has been done on watershed geometric characterization such as stream network topology and quantitative narration of shape, pattern, and drainage texture [5]. Hydrologic and geomorphic processes occur within the watershed, and morphometric
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/geography/2013/178021/