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• Morphometric characteristics of a tropical river basin, central Kerala, India using geospatial techniques

  1-14

  Shabna Sherin

  Arunkumar K.S

  Views:

  251

  The Thutapuzha watershed (TW) is one among the major tributaries of Bharathapuzha – the largest west flowing river in Kerala, India. Morphometric analysis was carried out to determine the spatial variations in the drainage characteristics and to understand the prevailing geologic variation, topographic information and structural setup of TW using Survey of India topographic maps and ASTER-DEM. Geoprocessing techniques has been used for the delineation and calculation of the morphometric parameters of the watershed. The TW sprawled over 1107Km² and the study revealed that the watershed includes a sixth order stream and lower order streams mostly dominate the basin with a drianage density of 1.36 m/Km²  exhibiting highly resistant subsoil, dense vegetation, and low relief of surface nature . The study  indicate that rainfall has a significant role in the drainage development whereas the drainage pattern is controlled by structure and relief. The watershed of TW is moderate to well-drained and exhibited a geomorphic maturity in its physiographic development. The shape parameters revealed the elongated nature of TW having less prone to flood, lower erosion and sediment transport capacities and drainage network development in the watershed. This study strongly brings to light that the drainage morphometric parameters have the enormou spotentiality to unveil the hydro-morphologicalcharacteristics of the river basins. Integrating hydro-morphological characteristics with conventional watershed assessment methods would have a beneficial effect on judicious watershed management, which helped to formulate a comprehensive watershed management plan.

• Landslide Susceptibility mapping using the Analytical Hierarchy Process and GIS for Idukki District, Kerala, India

  11-32

  Arunkumar K.S

  Ankoop K G

  Jobin Thomas

  Views:

  154

  This study demonstrates the application of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique for landslide susceptibility mapping of Udumbanchola and Devikulam taluk of Idukki district (Kerala, India). The landslide conditioning factors, such as lithology, geomorphology, slope angle, slope aspect, relative relief, drainage properties, land use/ land cover, and lineament characteristics,are derived using remote sensing data and GIS. The landslide susceptibility of the region is estimated using the weights derived by the AHP method. The analysis indicates the controls exerted by the structural and fluvial process and relief characteristics on the landslide activity of the region. The landslide susceptibility map of the region suggests that the high and severe susceptible zones cover about 10.68% of the area, and another 9.40% falls under the moderate susceptibility zone. The results highlight the significance of implementing various structural and non-structural measures in the moderate to severe susceptibility zones to mitigate the impacts of landslides.