IMPLEMENTATION OF GEO-SPATIAL DATABASES FOR DRAINAGE BASIN MANAGEMENT

by
priyank pravin patel
#
and a!i arkar
"
River basins have always been considered to be the cradle for all civilizations with human life and livelihood being both
totally dependent on as well as at the mercy of those churning waters. This still holds true for the present day. Moreover
with human activities taking on such diverse forms, Man has come to depend more than ever on the natural resources he can
garner, with fresh, flowing water being the foremost of them. Thus there is more than ever a greater need to understand
rivers, their behaviour and their drainage basin morphology in conjunction with the human elements embedded therein. An
efficient and viable way to do this is by using eographic !nformation "ystems #!"$ to generate geo%spatial databases,
which can then be rendered area%centric to focus on and delve into the particular problems of a region and formulate the
eco%friendly strategies re&uired while also keeping in view the general principles of sustainable development.
Ob#e$tive %& t!e preent t'dy
!" is a technology that supports the science of geography using a combination of spatial and descriptive data, skilled
persons, analytic methods and computer software and hardware to e'amine and better represent natural and built
environments. !t provides a spatial framework to support decisions for the intelligent use of the earth(s resources. A geo
#location%specific$ )spatial #of areal e'tent$ data%model is the backbone of any !", acting as the lens or filter through which
we perceive and interpret the infinite comple'ities of the real world. The present study e'amines the basics of !", the
methods and guidelines involved in generating a geo%spatial database and data%model for riverine environments from
different data sources and the advantages derived from it. !t uses the *ulung river basin as a case study, focusing intensively
on its terrain analysis. The *ulung river basin lies between ++
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/ and 23
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4 % 25
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4 on the eastern fringe
of the 6hotonagpur plateau, a part of the "ubarnarekha river basin. Terrain analysis has been performed using morphometric
techni&ues and various !" and statistical softwares, with conventional maps and satellite images as the data sources.
Reear$! Met!%d%l%(y
The present study thematically bases on the principles of the 7morphometric analysis( of drainage basins #8orton, 9-1:;
"hreve, 9-33; Mather and *oornkamp, 9-5,$. The channel networks are identified and their relevant databases built up to
e'plore their structural properties. To generate the morphometric database, the basin #"<! Topographical Map /os ) 50
=.9,, =.99, =.91, =.9: and 50/.1$ has been divided into numerous grids of #9 >m ' 9 >m$ dimension. The various lines of
drainage have been digitized with !" software and to compare the temporal changes in the basin, !R"%?3 #Resourcesat%!$
@!""%!A #multispectral$ images for the basin area #99 images$ have been digitized and overlain. To elicit greater detail
oogle 4arth software has been used to procure the 95, comparatively higher resolution satellite images that comprise the
basin area. These databases have been processed, statistically analyzed and cartographically presented with the help of a ?6.
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? "tudent, *epartment of eography, ?residency 6ollege, >olkata. e%mailD priyank---Ehotmail.com
F
?rofessor and 8ead, *epartment of eography, ?residency 6ollege, >olkata. e%mailD profBdrashisErediffmail.com