A STUDY ON RIVER CHANGE PATTERNS USING REMOTE SENSING

Abstract

For Centuries, populations of the world have largely depended on mighty rivers for their lively hood. Naturally, early civilizations were established and developed in and around the river valley. But unfortunately, some rivers have been migrating and ultimately wiping out agricultural lands and cities in their path. The manner in which rivers change the form and pattern of their channel changes typically includes any change in river geometry with context to cross section, the pattern or network of drainage. Plan-form analysis helps in understanding the changes in channel pattern in both time and space. In the olden days, these river changes were appraised by conventional surveying or analytical approaches, which were slow tedious and time consuming. In order to have an effective use of this information, there is a need to improve the methodology and technology. The Remote Sensing Technology plays a very important role in monitoring river changes. In the present study is to study the changes in Kosi river pattern and the lateral extent of channel to define the intensity of braiding over different time and space has been carried out for the years 1966 to 1995. The plan-form of the river has been mapped to understand the river changes in terms of braiding, meandering, plan-form index, shift etc. These parameters have been shown that the intensity of braiding is decreasing with time. Integrated use of Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing Data may save the time and cost of resource management.