Climatic Gradient and Hydrometeorological Characterization: Studies from the Cauvery River Basin South India

Humid, transition or sub-humid and Semi-arid lands are characterized by a combination of high temporal variability in rainfall and spatial heterogeneity of Hydro meteorological properties. As a consequence, presence of decadal variations in rainfall along with temporal variations will impact on groundwater extractions for irrigation requirements and their hydrological regime. In addition, during the past half century, changes have occurred in most semi-arid lands in the southern India agricultural abandonment and consequently a change in land use. In order to investigate the hydro meteorological consequences of such abandonment, three representative field sites on contrasting climate were instrumented additional field observations, experiments and secondary data simulations were performed to characterize the watersheds. A summary of the first long term results of analyses of rainfall, Temperature Evapotranspiration wind speed and other hydro meteorological variables are analyzed in climosequence zone at micro catchment scales is presented here

Assessment studies of groundwater recharge in Nagamangala Taluk, Mandya District, Karnataka using remote sensing and GIS techniques

The groundwater recharge assessment studies in Nagamangala taluk in Mandya district were carried out based on geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing techniques. In this connection satellite images (IRS-IA LISS+PAN+Wifs Image) and aerial plots were subjected to several treatment processes using software like ERDAS imagine and ESRI's Arc view. Thus, various thematic maps have been prepared for drainage density, lineaments, lithology and land cover/land use that allowed deciding their interactive effect. In the present study, the degree of effect was determined for each factor to assess the total groundwater recharge potentiality for two categories (moderate rate to low). The resultant map shows that 85 of the area has low and rest has moderate groundwater recharge potentiality. Finally, only 8.6 of the total average annual precipitated water (1685 mm) percolates into subsurface and ultimately contributes to recharge the groundwater

Morphometric analysis of nanjangud taluk, Mysore District, Karnataka, India using GIS techniques

An attempt has been made to study drainage morphometry and its influence on hydrology of Nanjanagud taluk. For detailed study, data for preparing DEM, aspect grid and slope maps, geographic information system (GIS) was used in evaluation of linear, areal and relief aspects of morphometric parameters. The study reveals that the elongated shape of the area is mainly due to guiding effect of thrusting and faulting. In all 41 sub-basins in Nanjangud taluk have been selected for the study. Quantitative morphometric analysis has been carried out for linear, relief and aerial aspects for all the sub-basins. The streams up to fourth order can be seen in all the sub-basins. The morphometric analysis reveals that Hullahalli sub-basin has lower value of drainage density, stream frequency, elongation ratio, relief ratio and infiltration number indicating highly permeable sub-soil materials under dense vegetation cover. Except Hullahalli sub-basin, all the other sub-basins show fractured, resistant, permeable rocks and drainage network seems to be not affected by tectonic disturbances

Groundwater development studies using remote sensing and GIS techniques in drought prone area of Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka, India

While water supply is a crucial issue, there is an evidence to suggest that the quality of groundwater supplies is also under threat in recent years. This is the result of salinisation and increasing trend of groundwater exploitation and heterogeneous terrain condition of hard rock area posing major problem in groundwater exploration. Groundwater exploitation has been on the rise in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka. Competing demands have grown in face of perennial water shortages, a situation which has been exaggerated by drought condition in the past decade. Integrated and environmentally sustainable development strategies have become inevitable for micro-level planning these days. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used for spatial analysis and integration. Geomedia Professional 5.1 GIS software was adopted in this process. The ranked maps were spatially integrated and the district area was divided into very good, good, moderate and low groundwater potential zones. Aquifer thickness map was generated by intersection of well inventory, sub-surface geological, geophysical and groundwater potential data. Based on aquifer thickness, aquifer was categorized into deep aquifer, shallow aquifer and moderately deep aquifer. By combining groundwater potential zone and aquifer thickness, the watershed area was reclassified into eleven priority zones, recommended for different agricultural practices, groundwaterdevelopment and management of aquifer recharge

Studies on land use, land cover and soil texture of Harve watershed, Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka, using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Land use, land cover, and soil texture studies are important for watershed characteristics. Most of the hydrological phenomenon depend upon these characteristics. Remote sensing is a powerful spin-off from space exploitation, and it has emerged as a tool for watershed characteristics, planning and management in recent times. The integrated approach of remote sensing and GIS has capabilities of data explanation, storage, retrieval and manipulation, and plays an important role for systematic analysis of various lithological, geomorphological, soil hydrological and land use characterization following the synoptic and multi-spectral coverage of terrain. In the present study, IRS-IB, 26 January 2004 satellite data have been analyzed in conjunction with topographical data of Harve watershed for land use, land cover and soil texture studies of a watershed under the GIS environment

Assessment of groundwater potential in Chamarajanagar District, Karnataka, India

The present study aims at the assessment of groundwater potential and an attempt was made to assess the groundwater balance using the water table fluctuation method in which all the components of the water balance equation are know and the only component which is considered unknown is the rainfall recharge. Most of the inputs were derived from the satellite remote sensing data. Twenty eight rain gauge stations and fifty observation wells falling within and outside the periphery of the sub-basin were considered for groundwater assessment. The total annual recharge includes recharge form (i) Monsoon rainfall, (ii) Non-monsoon rainfall, (iii) Hilly areas (iv) Surface water-bodies (v) groundwater irrigation, (vi) Seepage from canals and (vii) Canal irrigation. The total annual draft consists of water applied to the crops and water consumed for domestic and industrial use. Difference in the annual draft and the net annual results compared to the other methods. © 2011 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved

Identification of groundwater potential zones through remote sensing and gis techniques in Kollegal taluk, Chamarajnagar District, Karnataka, India

Water recharge from land surfaces into subsurface media is an essential element in the hydrological cycle. For a small scale Groundwater assessment, experimental approaches are usually followed, however, on a regional scale, this groundwater assessment needs to be made into a comprehensive picture where spatial data of the different contributing factors are treated. Contributing factors are lineaments and drainage frequency density, lithologic character, landuse and landcover.This study is approach to better estimate and provide qualitative assessment of potential of the area influencing the groundwater conditions and it is very good in valley regions and in remaining it is moderate to poor. © 2011 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved