STUDY OF RIVER CHANNEL MIGRATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL SUGARCANE CULTIVATION AREA IN THE MOHANA-MACHELI WATERSHED USING REMOTE SENSING

Abstract. Channel migration becomes the main characteristic of major rivers of Mohana-Macheli watershed of western Nepal. Study of river channel migration of major rivers of watershed using freely available remote sensing show that the channel has shifted to as high as 1000 meters from the original river path over the span of 9 years (2009–2017). The channel migration directly affects the land use and it has direct effect on the flood plain settlements of the study area. Cultivation of sugarcane in sand area is one of the mitigating measures of flood effects and prevent river bank erosion. The study shows that the area of sand is changing disproportionately in the region. This paper presents an enhanced change detection method of river channel migration using remotely sensed images and identification of sand area using classification and interpretation technique.