Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Based Approach for Watershed Conservation
Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 3
Abstract
Conservation of natural resources is essential to sustain any developmental activity, and such measures especially for soil and water carried out on a watershed basis are very useful for watershed management. In this context, prioritization of watersheds is required for different watershed components so as to take any further relevant conservation measures. Recent technological advances have brought remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques to the forefront as tools for recommending these conservation measures. In the present study, the topmost priority subwatershed (i.e., Murli subwatershed in the Subarnarekha Basin) among nine subwatersheds forming a major portion of the Nayagram block in the Midnapore district of West Bengal State in eastern India was considered. This subwatershed was further divided into 44 microwatersheds (with areas less than 10 which were prioritized based on morphometric parameters. Accordingly, suitable soil conservation measures were suggested. For the sake of completeness, the number of the microwatersheds in which these proposed check dam sites fall was also identified. From this study, it can be inferred that prioritization of microwatersheds is essential; GIS is handy as well as effective in recommending proper treatment for these microwatersheds.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Chaudhary, R. S., and Sharma, P. D., (1998). “Erosion hazard assessment and treatment prioritisation of Giri River catchment in north western Himalayas.” Indian J. Soil Conservation,26(1), 6–11.
Lole, B. S. (1992). “District level planning and identification of priority subwatershed for soil conservation based on techno-environmental cum socio-economic criterion: A case study for Santrampur Taluk, Panchmahal district, Gujarat.” Interim Rep. No. SAC/RSA/NRIS-DLP/TR-16, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, India.
Mishra, N., Satyanarayana, T., and Mukherjee, R. K., (1984). “Effect of topo element on the sediment production rate from subwatersheds in upper Damodar Valley.” J. Agric. Eng.,21(3), 65–70.
Morisawa, M. E., (1958). “Measurement of drainage basin outline form.” J. Geol. 66, 587–591.
Nautiyal, M. D., (1994). “Morphometric analysis of drainage basin using aerial photographs: A case study of Khairkuli Basin, district Dehradun.” J. Indian Soc. Remote Sensing, 22(4), 251–261.
Padmavathy, A. S., Raj, K. G., Yogarajan, N., Thangavel, P., Manikiam, B., and Chandrasekhar, M. G., (1992). “Modelling through GIS for surface water harvesting.” Proc., National Symposium on Remote Sensing for Sustainable Development, 193–198.
Pathan, S. K., and Jothmani, P. (1989). “Urban landuse mapping of Bombay metropolitan region using remote sensing data.” Rep. No. RSAM/SAC/MUS/LRD/01/89, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, India.
Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre (RRSSC)-Kharagpur. (1996). “Integrated mission for sustainable development, Nayagram, Midnapore district, W.B.” Tech. Rep. No. 1/IMSD(S)/RCK:8:11, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space, Bangalore, India.
Sebestian, M., Jayaraman, V., and Chandrasekhar, M. G. (1995). “Space technology applications for sustainable development of watersheds.” Tech. Rep. No. ISRO-HQ-TR-104-95, Indian Space Research Organisation, Bangalore, India.
Space Applications Centre. (1993). “Application of GIS for wasteland development planning: A case study for Aspur Tehsil, Dundapur, and Rajasthan.” Rep. No. SAC/RSA/NRIS-WLD/PR-2, Ahmedabad, India.
Stahler, A. N. (1964). “Quantitative geomorphology of drainage basins and channel networks.” Handbook of applied hydrology, Ven Te Chow, ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 24, 2000
Accepted: Oct 3, 2001
Published online: Jul 15, 2002
Published in print: Aug 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.