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A GIS based study on channel dynamic and the impact on morphology of Subansiri River in the Lakhimpur district of Assam, India

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Abstract

Channel migration or channel shift is a dynamic behavior of rivers, especially in the perennial rivers of the Himalayan system. Subansiri River well-known for its dynamic behaviour originates from Tibet and joins the River Brahmaputra at Assam. The present study tries to understand the changing nature of the river and morphological changes during the period of 1994 to 2020. Satellite images of Landsat-5 (TM) and Landsat-8 (OLI) with 30 m resolution was downloaded to detect the dynamism of the river for the same. A segment of the Subansiri River in the district seems to migrate towards the western side in an average of 7.33 km during the identified time interval. A maximum and minimum channel shift of 10 km and 4.48 km were measured, respectively, from the randomly selected cross-sections. Similarly, the maximum, minimum and average channel width were also measured 2.96 km, 0.30 km and 1.39 km in the year 1994 from the 12 random cross sections and the same were observed 4.35 km, 0.66 km and 2.09 km in the year 2020, respectively. The SI index for the same segment of the river was calculated as 1.7.96 and 1.1885 for the time interval. Being in the category of 1.50 < SI, the particular segment of the river can be considered as “meander river” in the year 1994. Similarly, the same can be considered as “winding river” in the year 2020, as it comes in the category of 1.05 < SI < 1.25.

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Data availability

Base Map was extracted from Google Earth to prepare Study Area Map. Boundary map of Revenue Circles was downloaded from the website of the Lakhimpur district. Satellite imageries of 2 years were downloaded from the USGS Earth Explorer website.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish heartfelt thank to the Centre for Studies in Geography, Dibrugarh University of Assam, India for supporting the research work. The authors also offer grateful gestures for giving an opportunity to conduct the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, D. H. S. K. College, Dibrugarh, Assam, India

    Jyoti Saikia

  2. Centre for Studies in Geography, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam, India

    Bhagya Das & Archita Hazarika

  3. Department of Geography, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India

    Jyoti Saikia

  4. Department of Geography, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Bhagya Das

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  1. Jyoti Saikia
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Saikia, J., Das, B. & Hazarika, A. A GIS based study on channel dynamic and the impact on morphology of Subansiri River in the Lakhimpur district of Assam, India. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 9, 59 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-023-00842-1

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