Integrated Python and GIS approach for Geomorphometric investigation of Man River Basin, Western Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

The Narmada Valley and adjoining region are considered to be tectonically active. The Dhar Lineament is a major zone of fracture North of Narmada River running nearly parallel to Narmada Valley. The Man River Basin spreads across the Dhar Lineament and extends up to the Narmada Lineament. The present study attempts to understand the characteristics and development of the valley of Man River. The high-resolution satellite images, GIS software, and Python program have been used for this study. The nature and characteristics of Man River Valley are quite different on either side of the Dhar Lineament. For micro-level analysis the Man Basin has been divided into 37 subbasins and their geomorphometric indices have been computed and correlated. The results indicate that in the development of Man Basin the Dhar lineament has played a crucial role. The subparallel, angular, tight meanders, and contorted streams are present in drainage. The bifurcation ratio ranges between 2 and 9, the average length of higher-order is less than the average length of lower-order for 13 subbasins, and elongated sub-basins are situated in low-lying gentle plane areas. The Drainage characteristics are largely controlled by various sets of fractures (NE-SW, NW-SE, E-W, and N-S). The anomalous behavior of parameters indicates the tectonic influence in the Man Basin development.