The Application of GIS Technologies and

Remote Sensing Data to delineate watershed,

determine Slope and Elevation Characteristics

for Asossa Town

 1. Introduction

Since time immemorial Environment and Development are going together as two wheels of a
cart. These two aspects are the determinants of human welfare and prosperity. However, history
is witness to the fact that many a times development is done at the cost of environment and its
quality. It directly reflects on productivity and hence on the economic development. In the
context of many developing and underdeveloped countries, about 80 percentage of population
who reside in the rural areas rely on the natural resources for day-to-day livelihood. This implies
that more the degradation, higher the poverty and thence the health problems connected with
poverty. This demands an appropriate management tools to be implemented on the affected
areas. Analysis and assessment tools like GIS along with Remote Sensing data have proved to be
very efficient and effective and hence very useful. Watersheds are hydrologic units that are
considered to be efficient and appropriate for assessment of available resources and subsequent
planning and implementation of various development programmes. Watershed is defined as
“Natural Hydrologic entity that covers a specific area expanse of land surface from which the
rainfall runoff flows to a defined drain, channel, stream or river at any point. (Watershed Atlas,
1990) Hence, all the basic natural resources viz. soil and water in the hydrological entity of the
area should be managed. The integration of technologies, within the natural boundaries of a
drainage area, for optimum development of land, water and plant resources to meet the basic
need in sustainable manner is Watershed Management. Diversity in physical landscape results in
different types of land, which are subjected to different types of utilization to the maximum
extent possible due to increasing pressure on land, for agricultural pursuits. This has resulted in
uncontrolled exploitation of resources resulting in unproductive or degraded land. Such degraded
lands, which can be brought under vegetative, cover with reasonable effort, and which are
currently under-utilized and which are deteriorating due to lack of water and appropriate soil
management or on account of natural cause are called Wastelands. The use of geo-information
and remote sensing methods for studying the hydrological features of river systems allows one to
fully reveal and characterize the Watershed as a natural geo-system with complex internal
connections. Knowledge of the morphometric features of the Watershed makes it possible to
competently use the resources available within it. This knowledge should be used to predict and
overcome situations unfavorable for a person and the economy and ensure the rational use of
natural benefits and their improvement.
1.1 Location

Assosa town, the seat of Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, is found in Assosa zone, Assosa
Woreda, at a distance of 687 Km from Addis Ababa and 180 km away from the Great Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (Figure 3.1). The town is geographically located between 10̊ 00ꞌ00” and
10°03ꞌ00” north latitude and between 34°35ꞌ00” to 34°39ꞌ00” east longitude (Figure 3.1). There
is no main perennial river crossing the town. All the rivers start from the drainage outlet of the
town, except one stream named Selga River, which is crossed by a bridge of new road Addisu
asphalt (ATA, 2018).

Figure. 1 Location of study area

2. OBJECTIVES

The study was carried out with the following objectives:

 Mapping the area to get the distribution of the water channels

 To generate DEM Assosa town
 Elevation map of Assosa town
 To prepare a slope map Assosa town
 To prepare Wateshed map of Assosa town

3. Materials and Methods

The use of digital elevation models [DEM] and satellite data for their construction brings a
morphometric description of the surface to a qualitatively new level. DEM, as a source of
morphometric descriptions, have been of interest since their inception. In recent decades,
techniques for a versatile morphometric analysis of territories based on DEM data were
developed. Therefore, the labor intensity of geomorphological mapping saw a decrease. The
experimental base, the methodological and theoretical potential of modeling, and the tools for
modeling processes and phenomena dependent on the relief were significantly enriched. The
accuracy of DEM constructed from the used remote sensing data is quite sufficient for
performing common operations of morphometric analysis in a scale series common for the study
of typical geomorphological objects, e.g., Watershed of different orders. Remote sensing data
such as DEM as Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) from USGS using
https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ was downloaded. The geo-information method allows for
calculating various features of the Watershed based on DEM. Such DEM as Shuttle Radar
Topographic Mission (SRTM), with a spatial resolution of 30 m, and Advanced Land Observing
Satellite (ALOS), with a spatial resolution of 30 m, were used as input data. The calculations
were performed in the program ArcGIS 9.8 , using the instrument Spatial Analyst. The obtained
results (morphometric maps) have a raster data format, the construction method of which and
their interpretation have their features. We obtained the following morphometric features of the
Watershed: – Slope – the ratio of the river’s fall in any of its sections to this section’s length. In
ArcGIS, the slope is the rate of change in elevation for each cell in the digital elevation model. It
is the first derivative of the DEM. – Exposure (the slopes’ orientation) – the location of slopes of
mountains, valleys, and other positive and negative landforms in relation to the cardinal points
and the horizon plane. The tool sets the slope direction of the maximum rate of values variation
from each cell to adjacent. The exposure is the first derivative of bias. – At some point on a
surface, the curvature is described as the curvature of a line formed by the intersection of the
earth’s surface and a plane of a certain orientation that passes through a given point. Horizontal
(planned), vertical (profile), and (average, general) curvature are commonly used in he
morphometric analysis. The curvature is derived from exposure in a given direction. – Flow
direction. To obtain hydrological features of the surface, it is possible to determine the flow
direction from each cell of the raster. In ArcGIS, this operation is performed using the Flow
Direction tool. The direction of flow is determined by the direction of the steepest descent, or
maximum depression, from each cell. – Flow Accumulation calculates the flow as the total
weight of all cells flowing into each cell down the output raster slope. Cells with high total
runoff are areas of concentrated runoff. They can be used to define watercourse channels. –
Drainage area (drainage basin) – an area bounded by watersheds, within which surface and
groundwater runoff is directed towards a natural watercourse or reservoir . The boundaries
between watersheds are called flow demarcation lines. The estuary is the lowest point along the
watershed boundary. – Stream ordering is a method of assigning a numerical order to links in a
stream network. This order is a method for determining the types of classification of streams
based on the number of their inflows. The use of the above tools allows one to obtain raster data
for the entire Watershed. For the convenience of calculations (e.g., determining areas or lengths),
it is necessary to digitize the received data, i.e., translate it into a vector data format. This was
done using the “Raster to Polygons” or “Raster to Lines” tools and the Convert toolset.

The drainage map, boundary map and contour map of the Assosa Watershed area were scanned
and then imported into ArcGIS 9.8 as image files and were digitized, geo-referenced and then
overlaid with the imagery after selecting the co-ordinates of GCPs. The methodology involved
the following procedures:

 Base Map preparation

 Contour Map Preparation
 Geo-referencing
 Digitizing and Editing
 DEM Preparation
 Elevation map preparation
 Calculation of Slope
 Slope Map Preparation
Figure 2 Flow Diagram of Methodology of Generation of DEM, Elevation Zone Map and Slope Map using GIS

4. Analysis and Discussion

Digital elevation models allow, with varying degrees of detail (depending on the selected
spatial resolution of the DEM), to establish several parameters and features of the river basin,
which, in turn, forms the basis for spatial analysis and identification of hydrological and
geomorphological processes occurring on its territory (including such dangerous processes as
erosion, slope, and avalanche formation, etc.). These parameters also help to learn the features
of the local climate. Thus, the speed of the river flow depends on the slope. It also determines
the intensity of erosion, features of surface runoff, and the amount of solar energy entering the
territory (which determines the territory’s microclimatic features). The exposure characterizes
the orientation of the Watershed concerning the flow of sunlight. It determines insolation, the
amount of radiation received by the earth’s surface. The exposure is an essential factor of the
Watersheds local climate (microclimate), as it determines the location of the slopes in relation
to the prevailing winds (windward and leeward slopes) and in relation to sources of moisture
(large hydrological objects). Areas with negative plan curvature are responsible for concave
areas (accumulation areas are valley bottoms). Areas with positive planned curvature
characterize convex areas (valley sides, ridges, and ledges marked with material drift. The
greater the curvature (without taking into account the sign), the more concave or convex the
surface is and vice versa. The practical convenience of determining the total curvature is that it
equally characterizes both mechanisms of accumulation. The slope of the surface characterizes
the relative intensity of material drift, and the exposure characterizes its direction. Thus, the
vertical curvature determines the patterns of erosion and accumulation, while the horizontal
curvature determines the runoff’s spatial heterogeneity. Simultaneous consideration of both
helps to better understand the patterns of redistribution of the material over the surface in liquid
or solid form. The “Total Runoff” tool allows one to identify all channels –permanent and
temporary streams, avalanche trays, mudflow channels, etc. The determination of the order of
watercourses allows not only establishing a hierarchical structure of runoff in the territory but
also indirectly indicates the water content of the Watershed. Some features of watercourses can
be deduced only by considering their order.

Apart from these analysis, other GIS aided analysis were carried out viz. DEM Generation,
Elevation Zone Map, Slope Map and Watershed map.( Figure 2,3 & 4) The formula used for
generation of DEM is as follows:

Dembound=iff(isundef(boundary),?,dem)

Where, Dembound is the name of the DEM map Boundary is the name of the boundary map
which was obtained from digitized contour map

Elevation Zone Map was obtained by classifying the DEM into the corresponding elevations.
The operation opted is Slicing in image analysis. The formula adopted to obtain a Slope Map is
as follows: Slopepct(%)=100*Hyp(Dx,Dy)/pixel size (23.5) Where, Slopepct is the name of the
Slope map where slope is given in percentage Dx and Dy are the spatially filtered x and y co-
ordinates obtained from DEM The images classified in this way were crosschecked by previous
source. The process was repeated till 98-percentage accuracy was obtained.

4.5 Watershed, Elevation and Slope Condition of the Study Area

4.5.1 Elevation

The altitude of the town ranges between 1580 and 1730 meters above mean sea level (masl).
Elevation and slope play an important role in governing the stability of a terrain. The slope
influences the direction of and amount of surface runoff or subsurface drainage system. The
slope has a dominant effect on the contribution of rainfall to stream flow. It controls the duration
of overland flow, infiltration and subsurface flow. The combination of the slope angles basically
defines the form of the slope and its relationship with the lithology, structure, type of soil, and
the drainage
4.5.2 Slope

A map of slope percent of surfaces is compiled in the form of raster and vector layers with
attribute information. The raster layer contains information about the percent of inclination of
surfaces with the pixel-by-pixel coloring of their values. The vector layer is a digitized raster
layer of this map. It shows slope value (in percent) and polygon area (in sq. km). Sub-horizontal
slopes (slope of the surface 0–2°) are valley bottoms and watershed surfaces. Their area is 19.93
sq. km. The steepness of the slopes increases with the rise in the mountains. Thus, within the
study area ridge (in the western part of the considered territory), there are very steep slopes (>
60% (2.64 sq. km of the area)). Slopes of medium steepness (slope of the surface 30–60%),
which occupy 6.2. sq. km of the area. Steep slopes (> 60%) occupy 2.64 sq. km of the surface,
gentle (15–30%) – 13.2 sq. km, and very gentle (5–15% – 56.8 sq. km. A map of slope
percentage of surfaces is compiled in the form of raster and vector layers with attributive
information.

Figure 3 Elevation and Slope map of Assosa town

3.5.2 Watershed Area

According to the regional bureau of finance and economic development report the total area of
the town is 14.58 sq.-km. Previously, the town was organized into four localities (01, 02, 03 &
04) which currently reorganized into two wereda (01 and 02). There is a total of ten kittens
organized under both weredas (five kittens under each wereda). Concerning the total population
of the town, different sources provide different information (BGRHR, 2018), released that the
total population of the town is more than 70,174 (31,895 males and 32,279 females).

Figure 5 Watershed map of Assosa town

5. Conclusion

A watershed is a holistic natural complex in which all physical parameters are interdependent
and have specific features for each watershed. Any watershed has morphometric indicators (area,
length, width, slope, exposure, the relative height of the catchment area) and hydrological
features of the watershed (the direction of flow, order of streams, and total flow). Geographic
information methods are used to study hydrological objects and in the modeling of drainage
basins as natural compound complexes. In combination with GIS technologies, remote sensing
methods are convenient for deciphering and assessing the hydrological situation of territories.
For the Assosa town watershed, a complex of morphometric calculations was performed. Based
on DEM and satellite images, thematic layers for GIS were built (hypsometric, surface
inclination angles, exposure, flow direction and order of watercourses and a hydrological map of
the territory). The thematic layers were designed as maps. Morphometric information is an
essential resource for:

– Monitoring, modeling, and subsequent overcoming of emergencies unfavorable for humans

and their economy, in particular, hydrological emergencies and landslides;

– Rational use of land and development of agriculture

– The design of transport routes and engineering structures

– The development of a network of specially protected natural areas and recreational facilities