Exploring watershed dynamics: a comprehensive review on morphometric analysis and geospatial techniques

The present comprehensive review delves into the pivotal role of morphometric analysis in watershed management, particularly in prioritizing sub-watersheds (SW) and reservoir catchments. Herein, the authors highlight the critical areas of water spread, soil erosion patterns and aquifer recharge. The study emphasizes the significance of morphometric parameters for effective conservation measures. The review takes a multifaceted approach, analyzing various parameters, exploring mathematical expressions and discussing the tools for sub-watershed (SW) prioritization. The areal, relief and linear parameters play a crucial role in comprehending watershed drainage networks, which in turn impact soil erosion, runoff, flood etc. In view of utility of fundamental Horton’s laws, the present study provides a detailed description of each parameter’s classification where the range of values and the impact of digital elevation model (DEM) accuracy on morphometric analyses have been discussed. While acknowledging the laborious nature of traditional morphometric analysis, the review also advocates for modern data reduction methods such as principal component analysis (PCA). In the present work, we have described the gaps observed in the sequenced literature reports cited through the content. In addition, the assessing parameter correlations are also acknowledged for emphasizing the ongoing challenges. © 2024 Indian Society for Hydraulics.