Morphometric analysis of a drainage basin using geographical information system in Gilgel Abay watershed, Lake Tana Basin, upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia

GIS and remote sensing approach is an effective tool to determine the morphological characteristics of the basin. Gilgel Abay watershed is stretched between latitude 10.56° to 11.22° N and longitude 36.44° to 37.03° E which is one major contributing river of Lake Tana which is the source of Blue Nile. The present study addressed linear and areal morphometric aspect of the watershed. The study deals with emphasis on the evolution of morphometric parameters such as stream order, stream length, bifurcation ratio, drainage density, stream frequency, texture ratio, elongation ratio, circularity ratio, and form factor ratio. The morphometric analysis of the basin revealed that Gilgel Abay is firth-order drainage basin with total of 662 drainage network, of which 511 are first order, 111 are second order, 30 are third order, 9 are fourth order, and 1 is fifth-order stream. The total length of stream is longer for first order and decrease with increasing stream order. The mean bifurcation ratio is 5.16 which is greater than the standard range, and it indicates that basin is mountainous and susceptible to flooding. Low drainage density is observed which is 0.6 km−2. It indicates that basin is highly permeable and thick vegetation cover. Areal aspect of the morphometric analysis of the basin revealed that the basin is slightly potential to flooding and soil erosion, indicating that runoff generated from the upland area of the watershed is significantly infiltrated at the gentle downstream part and contributing to groundwater potential. Further studies with the help of GIS and remote sensing with high-resolution remote sensing data integrating with ground control data in the field are more effective to formulate appropriate type of natural resource management system.