Morphometric Analysis of the Seonath Basin Using GIS for Watershed Evaluation in Rajnandgaon District, Chhattisgarh, India

Geographic information system has proven a powerful tool to store, analyze and visualize spatial data. It is also an effective tool for drainage network analysis and estimation of groundwater potentiality in watersheds. Morphometric analysis of drainage networks or basin helps us know about its Linear, Aerial and Relief parameters. This research deals with the morphometrical study of the Seonath Basin, situated in the Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, India. The location of Rajnandgaon is 20° 16' N to 22° 41' N latitude and 80° 25' E to 82° 35' E longitude. This study involves estimation of various parameters, Linear parameters such as stream order, stream length, mean stream length, stream length ratio and bifurcation ratio; Arial parameters such as drainage density, stream frequency, circularity ratio, bifurcation ratio and form factor; and Relief parameters such as absolute relief, relative relief and dissection index. This analysis divides the Seonath basin into three sub watersheds and those three sub watersheds are evaluated for various parameters independently. A total of 1456 streams were mapped under the major watershed, comprising 643 streams segments in the 1 ^st watershed: 510 stream segments in the 2 ^nd watershed and 303 stream segments in the 3 ^rd watershed. Estimated overall drainage density of the major watershed is 1.43 km/km², which is a sign of moderate infiltration capacity and drainage efficiency. The outcome of this study provides valuable information about sustainable watershed development and management strategies in this region.