International Journal of Remote Sensing & Geoscience (IJRSG)

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EXTRACTION OF HYDRO-GEOMORPHOLOGIC
FEATURES USING SATELLITE DATA FOR
MANDSAUR DISTRICT, MADHYA PRADESH
Ranjana Vyas and T.K. Pandya,
Department of Geology, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, 51-Saraswati Marg, Udaipur-313003, Rajasthan, India
E-mail: vyasranjana@gmail.com, trilok.pandya.56@gmail.com
Contact No.:+91-96724 27525, +91-98294 83030

Abstract
Satellite data are useful for extracting various required
informations for hydro-geomorphological features and the
study of slopes, aspects, drainage network and
landuse/landcover pattern represents the hydrogeology and
helps in categorization of the landforms into different hydrogeomorphological classes representing the relationship of the
geological structures and the groundwater occurrence. In this
study, Cartosat1, Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) 1D LISS III and
Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced TM (ETM+) digital
data, and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission (SRTM) along with Survey of India
toposheet No. 45P/4 have been used to create various thematic
maps with the help of Erdas and matica softwares for basaltic
terrain of Mandsaur district, Madhya Pradesh, India.Satellite
data derived geological and hydro-geomorphic features assist in
prospecting the ground water resources to plan aquifer
recharging, water harvesting and drinking water sources.
Recharge characteristics can be further differentiated by
physiographical image interpretation, merged with geohydrological data. Topography is also basic need for any
hydrologic analysis and modeling. Remote sensing can provide
quantitative topographic information of suitable
spatial resolution to be extremely valuable for model inputs.
Mandsaur district is one of such area, which is facing the
situation of water scarcity in spite of Shivna River drainage
system. Realizing the present situation of over-extraction of
groundwater, it has been considered feasible to undertake a
systematic hydrogeological and geomorphological investigation
of groundwater in Mandsaur region to locate new resource of
groundwater. As the study area comprises mainly of basaltic
lava flows of Deccan Traps, the main challenge on water sector
is in hard rock areas involving the problems of water
conservation and its management inclusive of planning of the
water resources. This is further complicated with several
complexities of the geological formations. Therefore, the
present research is focused on improving the knowledge on the
structure and functioning of the aquifer system in hard rock
terrain of the region. The purpose of this study is to inform
geomorphologists and hydrogeologists, primarily in developing
countries, of the general capabilities of remote sensing
techniques to obtain geomorphic data and to examine remote
sensing as a possible aid in extracting geomorphic features
ISSN No: 2319-3484

which will help in the study of geomorphology, hydrolgeoogy

and water management planning in the future.

1. Location of the study area

The present investigation has been carried out in the area
located near Mandsaur town, forming a part of Mandsaur
district of Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh. The study has
been confined to longitude 750 E to 7510 E and latitude
240 N to 24 10 N (Survey of India, Toposheet no. 45 P/4).
Mandsaur town is located at a distance of about 200 km. from
Ujjain (longitude 7550 N to 7540 N and latitude 2315 E).
The district is bounded by four districts of Rajasthan namely,
Chittorgarh in the West and North, Bhilwara in North, Kota in
the North-East and Jhalawar in the East while Ratlam district of
Madhya Pradesh bounds it in the South. The study area can be
approached both by rail and road throughout the year.

Fig.1: Location of the Study Area

2. Physiographic environ
Mandsaur district is located on northwest part of Madhya
Pradesh state. In past three decades industries had rapidly
grown up in the district. Mandsaur is mainly agricultural-based
district and its cropping pattern is diversified. The total

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population of the district is 11, 83,724 according to census
2001.

2.1 Climate: The study area is characterized by a tropical

climate except, the Southwest monsoon season, the climate is
generally dry. Four main seasons are witnessed that is
1. Cold season - December to February
2. Hot season - March to middle of June.
3. Monsoon season - middle of June to middle of September.
4. Post monsoon season - Middle of September to end of
November.

3 Data used for the study

In this study, Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) 1D LISS III and
Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced TM (ETM+) digital
data (Fig. 3), and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) (Fig. 4) along with
Survey of India toposheet No. 45P/4 (Fig. 2) have been used to
create various thematic maps with the help of Erdas and
Geomatica softwares for basaltic terrain of Mandsaur district,
Madhya Pradesh, India. The used data are here under:

2.1 Rainfall, Temperature:

The climate of the

Mandsaur district is semi-tropical characterized by hot summer
and well-distributed rainfall during the southwest monsoon.
January is the coldest month with temperature falling 9.80C.
May is the hottest month when the temperature may go up to
39.80C. The monsoon starts from middle of the June to the first
week of October. October and November constitute the post
monsoon or retreating monsoon period. The maximum rainfall
occurs during the monsoon season prevailing from middle of
June to middle of September. Based on available record of
rainfall data collected from Mandsaur observatory for a period
of 1977 to 2010, the average annual rainfall has been calculated
as 741.23 mm.

2.2 Humidity: The humidity measurements indicate that

the maximum humidity exceeding 70% has been recorded
during South - West monsoon season. The air is generally dry
and the driest part of the year is witnessed during the period
from February to May. The relative humidity less than 25% has
been recorded during this period.

Fig.2: Survey of India, Toposheet No 45 P/4

2.3 Wind:

The winds are generally light except during

the period of summer. The direction of wind is mainly East to
North - West during the monsoon season. The wind speed data
indicates that the wind blows at the rate of 52 km/hr during
December and 16.6 km/hr during June.

2.4

Fauna and Flora: The fauna of Mandsaur area

is comprised of wild and domestic animals such as tiger, blue
bull, deer, wild pigs, rabbit, jackal, languor, monkeys, bears,
horses, dogs, cats, buffaloes, cows etc. The birds include quail,
pigeon, parrot etc. Fishes are observed in river and ponds. The
flora of the study area is characterized by the development of
trees such as
babul, khejra, neem, khajoor etc. The wellknown crop of the area is opium. The vegetation is scantly at
ridges and is characterized by thorny shrubs.
2.5 Irrigation:

Mandsaur district has limited irrigation

facilities. Surface water irrigation in the district is only 8.0 % of
the net area. Groundwater is the main source in the district. Out
of total 98,800 hectare irrigated land, 90,847 hectares irrigated
from groundwater sources, which is about 92 % of total
irrigation in the district. There are a total 7,196 tube wells and
1, 05,748 dug wells in the district for irrigation.
ISSN No: 2319-3484

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Fig.3: Enhanced TM (ETM+) digital data

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Fig.4: SRTM DEM

4 Information extracted from satellite

data
All the satellite images have been georegistered with Toposheet
in UTM, WGS84 projection.
Mainly Elevation data (SRTM DEM) has been used as input to
extract geomorphic information like Contour (Fig. 6, Fig. 7),
Slope-Aspect (Fig. 10), and Lineaments (Fig. 9), whereas
drainage (Fig. 8) could not be extracted clearly by SRTM DEM
so it has been digitized with the help of Toposheet. These
extracted data has been checked with Cartosat, LISS-III and
Landsat data.

Fig.6: Extracted contours using Erdas software

4.2

2400

Digitization of drainage, river and waterbodies

using

Survey of India, Toposheet No. 45P/4 as drainage could not be

extracted clearly by DRAIN Module in Geomatica s/w.
0

75 0

75 10
0

24 10

4.1 Contour

(20 m. interval) generation with the help of

CONTOUR Module in Geomatica s/w and Erdas s/w (Fig. 6,
Fig. 7) and SRTM DEM is taken as input elevation data.
0

75 10

24 10
0

24 0

Fig.7: Digitised Drainage, River and Waterbodies

4.3

Lineament extraction using SRTM DEM as elevation

data with the help of Geomatica s/w.
24 0
0

Fig.5: Extracted contours using Geomatica software

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Lineament
s

75 0
0

75 10
0

75 10

75 0

2401
0

24 10

Drainage

24 0

24 0

Fig.8: Extracted lineaments of the area by SRTM DEM

4.4

Slope-Aspect Map extracted using SRTM DEM as input

elevation data with the help of Geomatica s/w.

7501
0

24010

24 10
0

24 0
0

Fig.9: Slope-Aspect Map

4.5

5 Geomorphology of the area

7500

75 10

75 0

Fig.10: Landuse/Landcover of the area

Landuse/Landcover pattern of the area

ISSN No: 2319-3484

240
0
Fig 11: Hydrogeomorphological Map of the study area
The study area mainly consists a few isolated low, flat-topped
hills and mounds at places.
The depositional and
erosional landforms are developed in the area of present
investigation. The differential hardness of rock masses is
evidence of their resistance to weathering. The general
topographical slope of the area is towards North and North-

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East. The height of study area from Mean Sea Level (MSL) is
462.805 meter.

International Journal of Remote Sensing & Geoscience (IJRSG)

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The alluvial soils are gray to yellowish in colour and are seen
along the Shivna River and its tributaries.

5.1 Topography: Major part of the area is covered by

6 Results and disscussion

Malwa Plateau, by gentle slope, elevation ranges from 445 m.

to 518 m. above Mean Sea Level. Main surface water divides
Chambal sub-basin from Shivna micro-basin. Shivna is the
tributary of Chambal River and flowing in the ENE-WSW
direction. Physiographically the area is characterized by a
rather flat topography with a few pecular hillocks at various
places, prominent hill occurs at Southwestern path of the study
area having an elevation of 483 m near Sawakhera village. The
minimum elevation of 420 m. AMSL (Above Mean Sea Level)
has been observed at Damdam and near Kolwa villages.

5.2 Landforms:

The landforms of the study area

include mounds, soil representing erosional and depositional
features respectively. The basaltic lava flows is horizontally
disposed and resulting in an almost flat-topped hills developed
at places. The lava plains cover most of the area.

5.3 Drainage: Mandsaur district falls under Ganga basin

and Chambal has reached the base level of erosion. Vertical
erosion has reached and lateral erosion is taking place. Other
tributaries of Chambal River are Retam, Shivna and Chhoti
Kali Sindh.S hivna River and its tributaries mainly provide the
surface drainage. Shivna River is originated from Sevna village
in Pratapgarh tehsil of Chittorgarh district (Rajasthan) and it
finally joins the Chambal River near Kolba, Nahargarh tehsil of
Mandsaur district (M.P.). The tributaries of Shivna River
include Somli and Tumnar, which are originating from
Southern fringe of Mandsaur block area from village Dhikola
(2406- 2507) and Pityakheri (2408- 7412) respectively.

5.4 Valley: Shivna River mainly drains the study area, and
this river occupies the valley portion of the area. Somli River is
the main sub-stream occurring in the present study area. The
area reveals the existence of small several streams (Nalas),
which joins the river.

5.5 Soils:

The soils are formed due to the weathering

effects on the Deccan basaltic lava flows. The soils show
variation in the colour and texture, they are light-black, darkblack, alluvial, red soil, mixed soil, black soil and brown
soil.The study area is mainly covered with black cotton soil,
which is having high clay content, low permeability, high
plasticity, high moisture content and water retaining capacity.

ISSN No: 2319-3484

The extracted layers as contour, drainage, slope, aspect,

landuse/landcover and lineament are very important to study
the hydrogeology and geomorphology of any area. Used input
data SRTM Digital Elevation Model, ETM, Landsat and
Google images are freely available on internet so it will be very
useful for hydrologists and geomorphologists. Lineament study
will help to know the groundwater flow of any area, similarly
the drainage and contour will give the information regarding
drainage pattern and topology of the area so we could know the
surface water conditions. All discussed layers and
landuse/landcover pattern will help for water management
planning of the area.

Acknowledgement: The author is very thankful to

Prof. Vinod Aggarawal, Head of the Geology Department,
Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur and all the faculty of
the department for their support and guideline to prepare this
research work.

References
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[5] Joshi, V.N., A study on environmental geology of Mandsaur
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[6] Kulshreshtha, V., Geoenvironmental management
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