Drainage network characteristics of the Ghaghghar River Basin (GRB), Son Valley, India

ABSTRACT The present study helps to understand the relation between the different morphometric parameters to delineate the drainage characteristics of the Ghaghghar River Basin (GRB), Son Valley, India. Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) data were used to prepare the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Aspect, Drainage, and Slope maps by using ArcGIS 10 software. The Ghaghghar River is third-order stream that exhibits dendritic to sub-dendritic pattern. The trails drainage patterns are also observed in some areas of the basin which may be due to the effect of regional tectonics. The mean bifurcation ratio is 5.1 showing normal basin which is somehow controlled by structural disturbances. High bifurcation ratio (>10) determines that the region is subjected to strong structural control on the drainage. Drainage density (0.36) shows very coarse drainage texture also having positive correlation with stream frequency. The elongation ratio is 0.64 along with circulatory ratio (0.6) shows elongated nature of the basin. The low values of drainage density and stream frequency imply that surface run-off is not quickly removed from the basin, making it susceptible to flooding and gully have very little effect on the extent to which the surface has been lowered by agents of denudation