See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/233751900

Digital elevation model (DEM) for identification of Groundwater prospective

zones

Article  in  Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing · September 2006

DOI: 10.1007/BF02990660

CITATIONS READS
13 2,200

3 authors, including:

Dr.S.Srinivasa Vittala Govindaiah .S

Central Ground Water Board, India University of Mysore
20 PUBLICATIONS   700 CITATIONS    87 PUBLICATIONS   599 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Ph.D work of DR.Hema.H.C View project

Ph.D work of H.K.Lakshmipathaiah View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Dr.S.Srinivasa Vittala on 15 May 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 SHORT NOTE

Photonirvachak
Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Vol. 34, No. 3, 2006

DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL (DEM) FOR IDENTIFICATION

OF GROUNDWATER PROSPECTIVE ZONES
S. SRINIVASA VITTALA*@, S. GOVINDAIAH** AND H. HONNE GOWDA***
*
Central Ground Water Board, Mid-Eastern Region, Patna - 800 001, India
**
Department of Geology, University of Mysore, Mysore - 570 006, India
***
Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Center, Bangalore - 560 034, India
@
Corresponding author : vittala_99@rediffmail.com

Groundwater evaluation related issues are
commonly investigated by the use of distributed
watershed models. These watershed models require
physiographic information such as arrangement
the different thematic maps of the drainage and
channel network, geomorphology, structural
features, slope, soil and its catchment geometric
properties. Traditionally, these parameters are
obtained from maps or field surveys. DEM data are
digital elevation data set recording the
topographic surface expression of any area (http://
www.gisdevelopment.net). Over the last two
decades this information has been increasingly
derived directly from digital representations of the
topography (Jenson and Domingue, 1988; Mark,
1984; Moore et al., 1991; Martz and Garbrecht, 1992).
The digital representation of the topography is
called a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The
automated derivation of topographic watershed data
from DEMs is faster, less subjective and provides
more reproducible measurements than traditional
manual techniques applied to topographic maps
(Tribe, 1992). Digital data generated by this approach
also have the advantage that they can be readily
imported and analyzed by GIS. The technological
advances provided by GIS and the increasing
availability and quality of DEMs have greatly
expanded the application potential of DEMs to many
hydrologic, hydraulic, water resources and
environmental investigations (Moore et al., 1991).
Earlier investigations by different workers for the
creation of DEM for watersheds elsewhere include;
i) Youberg et al. (1998) used GIS to develop a method
for deriving stream-water relationships for the
selection of reference site characteristics from
watershed parameters derived from a DEM and data
collected from the field and ii) Fels and Matson
(1998) used DEMs to conduct a hydrogeomorphic
land classification. In this paper, the analysis of
DEMs are reviewed and discussed with respect to
the derivation of topographic data in support of
groundwater evaluation studies.
The study area falls between 13º 55' to 14º 17'
N latitude and 77º 05' to 77º 25' E longitude forms
one of the watersheds of North Pennar river basin

Received 21 June, 2005; in final form 3 April, 2006

306 S. Srinivasa Vittala et al.
covering an area of 570 km2 in Pavagada taluk of
Tumkur district and a small portion in Ananthapur
district of Andhra Pradesh. The area exhibits the
dendritic to sub-dendritic drainage pattern (Vittala
et al., 2004). Vittala et al. (2005) have also carried
out evaluation of groundwater potential zones at
sub-watershed level based on the characteristics of
geomorphic units together with slope, geology,
lineaments, borewell data using Remote Sensing and
GIS techniques. The climate of the area is semi-arid
and is characterized by hot summer months, low
rainfall and pleasant monsoon of winter season. The
temperature varies from 22.6 to 35.3ºC during
summer and 16.7 to 27.3ºC during winter season. The
average annual rainfall is 560 mm. The area has
sandy reddish brown soils with thickness varying
from 0.50 - 2 m (Reddy and Rangaswamy, 1989).
The study area is covered by hardrock
formations such as Granites and Gneisses, facing
acute water scarcity both for irrigation as well as
drinking water proposes. The granites of Closepet
Granite (CG) and gneisses forming part of Peninsular
Gneissic Complex (PGC) which have been intruded
by younger dolerite dykes (GSI, 1981). The Closepet
Granite outcrops at different structural levels
from deep (7-8 kbar) to shallow (2-3 kbar) crust
(Jean-Francois et al., 2003). The exposures of the
granite are noticed as hillocks located near
Kondetimmanahalli, Maridasanahalli and
Yerrammanahalli in the western part of the study
area. The near surface exposures of these granites
in the low laying areas are weathered and
decomposed upto depth of 20 m. They are
intersected by number of pegmatetic veins with well
developed joints. The peninsular gneiss forms the
basement rock and confined mainly to the eastern
part of the study area. The contact between
Closepet granite and Gneiss is irregular and
transitional. They also contain number of Pegmatite
veins with two sets of joints. The exposures of these
Gneisses are found mostly in the low laying areas
in the form of mounds and small ridges. These
gneisses are comparatively more fractured and
weathered than the Closepet granite. These hard
rocks contain no primary porosity. Hence water
percolates through secondary porosity formed by
fracturing and weathering. Geomorphologically, the
area is classified into Denudational hills, Residual
hills, Inselberg, Pediment inselberg complex,
Pediments, Shallow weathered pediplains,
Moderately weathered pediplains, and Valley fill
units which are observed both in the Closepet
granites and Gneisses (Vittala et al., 2005).
For generating the DEM, topographic contours
of Survey of India topographic maps having contour
intervals available at 10 m (57F/4, F/7 and F/8) and
20 m (57 G/1) are used with its corresponding IRS 1
C and 1 D Geocoded FCC of LISS III and PAN fused
data (Vittala et al., 2004). The contours represent the
elevation ranging from 540 m to 1080 m above MSL.
Contour values are then correspondingly assigned
to the overlapping grid cells with the IDW (Inverse
Distance Weightage) interpolation method. Five data
layers including contour, spot height, stream, tank
and study area boundary are used as inputs into
the interpolation process so that a raster data set
of elevation with the required pixel resolution can
be achieved. This output is further used in the
illumination process to produce shaded relief
images. Contour and spot height layers providing
linear and random elevation data are estimated and
distributed into grid system using interpolation
process. Based on this grid, a color coded DEM has
been generated. Stream layer is used to mark the
draining courses flowing from upstream to
downstream while the study area boundary tells the
extent of limit.
The topographic contours were traced on the
tracing sheet. Later these contours were digitized
and attributed with its contour values and spot
heights using the software AutoCAD Map 2000.
The topogrid and hillshade functions of ArcGIS
8.2.1 (ESRI, 2001) and its supporting module
ArcScene softwares which help in interpolation and
illumination processes are used to obtain elevation
data in grid form and shaded relief image. This study
evaluates the methodology and provides a basis for
 Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for Identification of Groundwater... 307

future studies that intend to utilize Spatial Analyst
for hydrologic or geomorphic research.
The different DEMs of illuminated shaded relief
with overlay of major roads and settlements,
exaggerated perspective view, exaggerated
perspective view of merged FCC satellite image
draped over DEM of Pavagada watershed are
generated and presented (Figs. 1, 2 and 3).
In the present study, attempt has been made to
create DEM for the Pavagada watershed using Spot
heights and Contours. An integrated approach of
Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques were used for
identification of ground water prospective zones
using DEM. The Spot height values measured
upwards from a base datum on the earth’s surface
are called spot heights and depth values are called
soundings. These are portrayed on maps with point
symbols and annotation of the numerical value spot
heights or soundings. The Contours are imaginary
lines which represent the intersections that arise
from horizontally slicing up landforms into equal
vertical intervals like a layer cake. Imhof (1982)
defines them as “lines on the map depicting the
metric locations of points on the earth’s surface at
the same elevation above sea level”. Contour lines
are measured up from a base datum, usually sea

Fig. 1. Shaded relief image of the study area with overlay of major roads and settlements.
308 S. Srinivasa Vittala et al.

level and the lines measured down from the datum
are called depth contours or isobaths. The height
difference between contours is called the contour
interval. Small scale regional maps will have a larger
contour interval, and will be less accurate, and very
large scale maps used for engineering and planning
will have a very small contour interval and be very
accurate.
The DEM provides a detailed topographic
picture of the study area. NNE, NW, West, South
and SW parts of the area show maximum relief
(between 710 - 1080 m above MSL) while in rest of
the area, topography is undulating and plain in the
central part. Eastern and north-eastern parts show
minimum relief showing elevation values ranging
from 530 - 700 m above MSL. Analysis of DEM data
has revealed the following information in the study
area;
• Grey to dark red zones have maximum
topographic gradient with poor to very poor,
light red to yellow zone have medium to gentle
gradient with moderate to poor and the green
and cyan zones have very low topographic
gradient with good to moderate and very good
to good groundwater prospective zones (Fig. 2).
• Exaggerated perspective view of merged FCC
satellite image draped over DEM (Fig. 3) reveals
that dark red to red tone is very good to good
ground water, grey to light green is good to
moderate and dark green to black tone is
moderate to poor and poor to very poor
groundwater prospective zones.
• Careful observation of DEMs show that the
slope is towards north- east and drainages to
flow in a northeasterly direction and the
groundwater flow direction is from SW to NE
and finally joins river North Pennar.

Fig. 2. Exaggerated perspective view of DEM of the study area

(View from south-west direction).
 Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for Identification of Groundwater... 309

Fig. 3. Exaggerated perspective view of merged FCC satellite image draped over
DEM of the study area (View from south-west direction).

The Pavagada taluk in Karnataka State is well
known as one of the areas showing distinct relief
and topography and part of it has been selected as
the study area for applying DEM data for
identification of ground water prospective zones.
The DEM data can be created from GIS data layers
i.e. contour line and spot height. The result is
expressed as grid data of which their quality controls
are the quality of original data and grid size
assigned for interpolation process. The grid data are
further processed to be shaded relief image by
illumination method. The height exaggeration for grid
data as well as sun azimuth and angle for relief
illumination can be varied to obtain different images
with different enhanced features. Proper
interpolation resolution and proper scale of shaded
relief image as well as exaggerated perspective view
images will assist to achieve this purpose. To
achieve the better result, integrated data should be
employed for interpretation. DEM data can also be
used for watershed prioritization, development and
management in an acceptable level particularly when
some other data are not available.
Acknowledgements
The first author expresses his gratitude to staff
of Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications
Center, Bangalore and Mysore, Thiru Murugan,
Adelaide University, South Australia and Staff of
CGWB, MER, Patna for their valuable suggestions
and moral support to carryout and publish this
research work. Also indebted to C. Srikantappa, A.
Balasubramanian and M. Rudraiah, Department of
Studies in Geology, University of Mysore, Mysore.
 310 S. Srinivasa Vittala et al.
References
ESRI (2001). ArcGIS, Environmental Systems Research
Institute, Redlands, California, USA.
Fels, J.E. and Matson, K.C. (1998). A Cognitively-Based
Approach for Hydrogeomorphic Land Classification
Using Digital Terrain Models. 1998 ESRI User
Conference Proceedings. Environmental Systems
Research Institute, Redlands, CA.
GSI (1981). Geological and Mineralogical Map of
Karnataka and Goa, Geological Survey of India.
Imhof, E. (1982). Cartographic Relief Presentation, H. J.
Steward (ed.), Berlin and New York: Walter de
Gruyter, 1982.
Jean-Francois Moyen, Mudlappa Jayananda, Anne
Nedelec and Herve Martin (2003). From the Roots
to the Roof of a Granite: the Closepet Granite of
South India. J. Geol. Soc. of India, 62: 753-768.
Jenson, S.K. and Domingue, J.O. (1988). Extracting
Topographic Structure from Digital Elevation Data
for Geographical Information System Analysis.
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing,
54(11): 1593-1600.
Mark, D.M. (1984). Automatic Detection of Drainage
Networks from Digital Elevation Models.
Cartographica, 21(2/3): 168-178.
Martz, L.W. and Garbrecht, J. (1992). Numerical
Definition of Drainage Network and Subcatch-ment
Areas from Digital Elevation Models. Computers
and Geosciences, 18(6): 747-761.
View publication stats
Moore, I.D., Grayson, R.B. and Ladson, A.R. (1991).
Digital Terrain Modelling: A Review of Hydrological,
Geomorphological and Biological Applications.
Hydrological Processes, 5(1): 3-30.
Reddy, Ramachandra, P.R. and Rangaswamy, C.Y. (1989).
Groundwater Resources of Pavagada Taluk, Tumkur
District. Groundwater Studies No. 240. Department
of Mines and Geology, Government of Karnataka,
Bangalore.
Tribe, A. (1992). Automated Recognition of Valley Heads
from Digial Elevation Models. Earth Surface
Processes & Landforms, 16(1): 33-49.
Vittala, S.S., Govindaiah, S. and Honne Gowda, H.
(2004). Morphometric Analysis of Sub-watersheds
in the Pavagada Area of Tumkur District, South India
Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques. J. Indian
Soc. Remote Sensing, 32(4): 351-362.
Vittala, S.S., Govindaiah, S. and Honne Gowda, H.
(2005). Evaluation of Groundwater Potential Zones
in the Sub-watersheds of North Pennar River Basin
around Pavagada, Karnataka, India using Remote
Sensing and GIS Techniques. J. Indian Soc. Remote
Sensing, 33(4): 473-483.
Youberg, A.D., Guertin, D.P. and Ball, G.L. (1998).
Developing Stream-Watershed Relationships for
Selecting Reference Site Characteristics Using ARC/
INFO. ESRI User Conference. Environmental
Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA.
http://www.gisdevelopment.net/aars/acrs/2002/geo/029