Abstract
The recent development of digital representation has stimulated the development of automatic extraction of topographic and hydrologic information from digital elevation model input, using geographic information system (GIS) and hydrologic models that integrate multiple databases within a minimal time. The objective of this investigation is to compare the drainage extracted from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data with the drainage digitized from topographic data (1:50,000) and also to draw attention to the functions of an add-on tool in ArcGIS 9.2 (Arc Hydro v.2) of Kuttiyadi River basin. The analysis reveals that the watershed extracted from the SRTM digital elevation model (DEM) (90 m resolution) is having an area of 668 km2 and that from toposheet is 676 km2. The river mouth in the drainage network from the SRTM DEM is found to be shifted to the northern side from where it actually exists. The drainage network from SRTM DEM at stream threshold 15 (0.0002 % of maximum flow accumulation) is delivering best results than the other threshold value in comparison with the drainage pattern derived from toposheets. The study reveals the importance, reliability, and quaintness of drainage network and watershed derived from the SRTM using the Arc Hydro Tool, an extension for Environmental Systems Research Institute ArcGIS. The advantage of the Arc Hydro Tool is that it would help a novice with little GIS knowledge to run the model to obtain watershed and drainage network.
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Acknowledgments
The authors express their sincere thanks to the Executive Director of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) and also gratefully acknowledge fundings received from CWRDM under plan project (N-43). We are thankful to the developers of the Arc Hydro Tool, as their functions in the tool were supportive in developing attributes for hydrological studies and also grateful to the reviewers for their valuable comments.
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Gopinath, G., Swetha, T.V. & Ashitha, M.K. Automated extraction of watershed boundary and drainage network from SRTM and comparison with Survey of India toposheet. Arab J Geosci 7, 2625–2632 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-0919-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-0919-0