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A Google Earth and ArcGIS-based protocol for channel width extraction

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Abstract

The quantification of bedrock river incision dynamics in tectonically active landscapes is an essential component of tectonic-geomorphology and hydrological studies. The channel incision is dependent on channel width. It is invariably observed in the field and in numerical models that the channel width varies with the spatial changes in tectonics, lithological, and climatic zones due to geomorphic forcing causing variability in rock uplift and erodibility. However, estimating channel width in the field and numerical modelling is tedious and often limited by terrain inaccessibility. We present an ArcGIS-based methodology to extract centerline and channel width using channel polygon extent derived from open-source high-resolution Google Earth images. The channel polygon boundary is used to extract a river centerline. The orthogonal line segment from the centerline is used to compute the river width continuously along the entire channel course in the ArcGIS platform, which is accurate in comparison to the other manual methods. We demonstrate the methodology on the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers in Garhwal Himalaya, which has variable width along with different geological segments.

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Acknowledgements

The research work is part of the PhD research of SKK at Osmania University. The authors acknowledge funding from CSIR-NGRI for the work. We highly appreciate the anonymous reviewers and editor for their constructive criticism and suggestions that significantly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    Sravan Kumar Kotluri, Prabha Pandey & Anand K Pandey

  2. Department of Geology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    Sravan Kumar Kotluri

  3. National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram, 695 011, India

    Sravan Kumar Kotluri

Authors
  1. Sravan Kumar Kotluri
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  2. Prabha Pandey
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  3. Anand K Pandey
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Contributions

SKK has developed the method and carried out the channel width analysis of the study area. The results are part of the SKK PhD thesis. AKP and PP initiated and supervised the research work. All authors participated in the interpretation and writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anand K Pandey.

Additional information

Communicated by Saumitra Mukherjee

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Kotluri, S.K., Pandey, P. & Pandey, A.K. A Google Earth and ArcGIS-based protocol for channel width extraction. J Earth Syst Sci 133, 9 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02229-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02229-4

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