In present study the morphometric analysis of Bhiral Khad Sub Watershed of Palampur area of Himachal Pradesh by using remote sensing and GIS Techniques. Detailed drainage map is prepared from SOI toposheets. This drainage map is used for the morphometric analysis the watershed. Geographical Information System (GIS) has proved to be an efficient tool in delineation of drainage pattern and water resources management and its planning. GIS techniques are adopted for the identification and analysis of morphological features. The basin morphometric parameters such as linear and aerial aspects of the sub watershed were determined and computed. Majority of the areas have low relief, high permeability indicating sparse drainage network which favours ground water recharge. These areas have softer and more permeable rock formation, low surface runoff and hence are less prone to soil erosion. The structural disturbances have not distorted the drainage pattern in the region. The areas are elongated and the drainage pattern is mostly parallel type. The drainage density is mostly moderate to low. Low drainage density is a prima facie evidence of youth. Hence the area has highly permeable subsoil material under dense vegetative cover and low relief. It leads to coarse drainage texture allowing for longer residence time and slow response time to runoff. The Moderate drainage density indicates the basin has highly permeable subsoil and vegetative cover indicating good ground water potential areas.A1, A2, A3, A5 have a positive correlation in the watershed indicating increase in stream population with respect to increase in drainage density. The stream frequency is high in micro watersheds (A1, A2) indicating impermeable subsurface material, sparse vegetation, high relief and low infiltration capacity of bedrock. Micro watershedsA5 and A6 show high value. A1 shows moderate value of 0.398 whereas A2 and A3 show the low values. The basins with low value have quicker surface runoff and leads to the development of the high drainage density. It is seen that the bifurcation ratio of 1st and 2nd order stream is higher than the other ratio. The bifurcation ratio of the lower order shows a higher value. This reflects the high dissection in the upland area. The higher Bifurcation ratio suggests that the area is tectonically active. It indicates there may be some structural distortion in that basin area. Lower values have less structural disturbances. Higher values strong structural control. Moderate values indicate drainage pattern is not largely affected by structural disturbances.
