Comparative Analysis of Braiding Intensity of Kosi River Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Abstract

The Kosi river is one of the major tributaries of river Ganga which is well known for change of its course. It originates from Tibet and after travelling through Himalaya and plains of Bihar, it joins river Ganga. The river carries huge sediment and, s accumulation of sediment causes formation of sand bars in the river. The downstream region of Birpur barrage is highly affected by this shifting tendency of the river. The satellite images of the river for year 1992, 2004 and 2016 were obtained to analyze the evolution in braiding of the river for two decades. The braiding intensity was measured by using the different braiding indices given by Brice, Rust and Sharma and compared in this study. The study area has been divided into four reaches and the braiding intensity for each of them were calculated. The braiding intensity by Brice varies from 2.38 to 4.93, from 1.06 to 1.75 as given by Rust and 2.45 to 6.5 by Sharma. The calculated braiding intensity indicates the overall decrease of braiding in the area. This study will be helpful to get an idea about the change in braiding intensity of the Kosi River in the downstream side of Birpur Barrage and about future changes. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.