Milli-watershed Level Morphometric Analysis on the Rudhrakombai River in Cauvery Basin, Central Tamil Nadu, India: Using GIS and Remote Sensing

The Morphometric investigation of the Rudhrakombai River sub-watershed in Cauvery River basin reveals interrelationships and variances among the major subwatersheds. Several morphometric measures have been employed to study drainage. The 247.32 sq.km subwatershed is split into eight milli-watersheds based on stream order and area. The drainage density and elongation ratio value of 0.59 shows broader drainage with very fine dendritic pattern. The milliwatershed features steep topography with a relative relief of 1366.71 and ruggedness number of 4.36. Steepness may cause soil erosion. Since much of the sub-watershed is flat, erosion from the surrounding hill might cause siltation. The 2018 and 2023 land use and land cover classification shows a rise in urbanization, which could cause ecological balance. Thus, this study emphasizes the need of geospatial methods for watershed analysis.