Predicting Meander Migration of the Barak River by Empirical …
115
2 Study Area and Database
Barak River start offs from Japvo Mountain of Manipur hills at an elevation of
3015 m and follows the course south all the way through hilly terrain up to Tipaimukh
close to the tri-junction of the three states: Assam, Manipur and Mizoram. At this
point, the river takes a hairpin curve and enters into the plains of Cachar district of
Assam and figures the border of states of Assam and Manipur up to Jirimat, slight
upstream of Lakhimpur. The river then flows through westwards of the Barak valley
of Assam. Finally, it enters into Bangladesh, where it is known as the Surma River
and Kushiyara River which is later called as Magna River. Major parts covered by
Barak River are north-eastern India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Barak basin lies
between 89° 50
E to 94° 0
E and 22° 44
N to 25° 58
N. The basin has sub-tropical
warm, and humid climate receives an annual rainfall of 2500–4000 mm. Digital
Elevation Model (DEM), resolution 30 m (downloaded from http://earthexplorer.
usgs.gov), was used to obtain the river network of Barak River, as shown in Fig. 1.
Landsat images of the year 1984, 2002, 2012 and 2017 have been used to identify
the meandering characteristics with the help of GIS and remote sensing technology.
Details of the dataset utilized are shown in Table 1.
3 Methodology
3.1 Selected Empirical Methods
Empirical methods are commonly used methods. Main advantages of using these
methods are that it is simple and is based on observed data. By this approach, the
database of observed meander migration and associated parameters is assembled; out
of which, most influential parameter is selected; a regression is performed; and an
equation is proposed. Some of the commonly used empirical approaches described
below.
3.1.1 Hooke [18]
Hooke collected a meander migration data in 1980, by using field measurement and
historical maps for 11 streams in Devon, England. Hooke observed the catchment
area A as the most influencing parameter and finally derived his equation based on
these data.
M r = 0.0669A
0.46
(1)
where
115
2 Study Area and Database
Barak River start offs from Japvo Mountain of Manipur hills at an elevation of
3015 m and follows the course south all the way through hilly terrain up to Tipaimukh
close to the tri-junction of the three states: Assam, Manipur and Mizoram. At this
point, the river takes a hairpin curve and enters into the plains of Cachar district of
Assam and figures the border of states of Assam and Manipur up to Jirimat, slight
upstream of Lakhimpur. The river then flows through westwards of the Barak valley
of Assam. Finally, it enters into Bangladesh, where it is known as the Surma River
and Kushiyara River which is later called as Magna River. Major parts covered by
Barak River are north-eastern India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Barak basin lies
between 89° 50
E to 94° 0
E and 22° 44
N to 25° 58
N. The basin has sub-tropical
warm, and humid climate receives an annual rainfall of 2500–4000 mm. Digital
Elevation Model (DEM), resolution 30 m (downloaded from http://earthexplorer.
usgs.gov), was used to obtain the river network of Barak River, as shown in Fig. 1.
Landsat images of the year 1984, 2002, 2012 and 2017 have been used to identify
the meandering characteristics with the help of GIS and remote sensing technology.
Details of the dataset utilized are shown in Table 1.
3 Methodology
3.1 Selected Empirical Methods
Empirical methods are commonly used methods. Main advantages of using these
methods are that it is simple and is based on observed data. By this approach, the
database of observed meander migration and associated parameters is assembled; out
of which, most influential parameter is selected; a regression is performed; and an
equation is proposed. Some of the commonly used empirical approaches described
below.
3.1.1 Hooke [18]
Hooke collected a meander migration data in 1980, by using field measurement and
historical maps for 11 streams in Devon, England. Hooke observed the catchment
area A as the most influencing parameter and finally derived his equation based on
these data.
M r = 0.0669A
0.46
(1)
where