Assessment of Hydrogeological Characteristics for the State of Bihar, India Using Digital Elevation Model

In this study an attempt has been made to assess the hydrogeological characteristics of the Bihar State, India. We determined stream order, flow direction, slope, hill shade, drainage density, form factor and rainfall variability in the study area. In order to calculate these parameters, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) elevation, gridded rainfall data, and, Geographical Information System (GIS) have been used. The drainage density of the study area varies from 0.4724 to 0.5663 which indicates that the presence of permeable subsoil and coarse texture. Strahler’s stream ordering system were followed and found that stream order of the study area varies up to 9. Slope of the study area is found between 00 and 750. The study also reveals that streams generally flows in north- south direction with total number of stream varies from 786 to 6723. The average stream length of all segments is 131.63km. Bihar gets maximum rainfall in northern parts in comparison to other parts and also suffers to frequent flooding.