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GIS-based geomorphometric analysis for potential applications in reversing land and biosystem degradation
journal contribution
posted on 2020-10-07, 00:00 authored by PK Langat, L Kumar, Richard KoechRichard KoechWatershed morphometric assessment is about measurements and calculations of land surface forms for the purpose of understanding hydro-geomorphological character and patterns. Important natural environment geo-information and summary of the spatial characteristics
of Tana River Basin (TRB) in Kenya have been obtained through hydro-geomorphometric analysis. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Digital Elevation Model (ASTERDEM) data and ArcGIS (ESRI Inc., version 10.4.1) together with published mathematical equations were applied to extract morphometric parameters of the drainage basin, which covers a total area of 94,930 km2 and a span of
527.75 km. The quantitative morphometric analysis considered a total of 28 relief, areal, and linear hydromorphometric characteristics of the TRB. Relief parameters of the basin suggest moderate-to-low overall watershed
steepness, upland with rolling land surface patterns, rugged landforms susceptible to erosion and sediment transportation, and a landscape in evolution process tending towards maturity. This means stability of the land surface can be attained with intensive land degradation reversing strategies like erosion control measures. Areal characteristics further support the basin’s susceptibility to erosion as shown by stream length, stream drainage density, and circulatory ratio values. Also, the areal aspects portray peak runoffs with
short duration flashes. Linear parameter value results
such as bifurcation ratio imply that infiltration capacity
varies with stream orders across the watershed. This
hydro-geomorphometric analysis would be useful to
land and water managers, researchers and practitioners
of TRB, and other similar systems in designing and
planning soil and water conservation and management
practices such as soil erosion control, groundwater recharge
activities, catchment modelling, runoff and flood
studies, prospecting groundwater mapping, and biological
applications.
Keywords Stream network . Tana River watershed .
Drainage density . Soil erosion . ASTERDEM.
Morphometric analysis
History
Volume
192Issue
10Start Page
1End Page
14Number of Pages
14eISSN
1573-2959ISSN
0167-6369Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLCPublisher DOI
Language
enPeer Reviewed
- Yes
Open Access
- No
Acceptance Date
2020-09-24External Author Affiliations
University New EnglandEra Eligible
- Yes