Abstract

The need for information in user friendly formats and which is easy to update, query, manage and utilize, has popularized the use of geographical information system (GIS). Remote sensing and GIS techniques are increasingly becoming an important tool in hydrology and water resources development. This is due to the fact that most of the data required for hydrological analysis can easily be obtained from remotely sensed images. The main objective of this applied research is to implement new sound technologies such as remote sensing, GIS and global positioning system (GPS) to determine the hydrological parameters. Digital elevation model (DEM) of 30 m resolution was used to drive the flow direction, flow accumulation, watershed boundaries, sub basins and drainage network. The catchment area was determined and found to be 475 km².The longest flow path was calculated and found to be 43.7 km. The drainage area centroid was determined. The derivation of such information through using remote sensing and GIS  would be very useful in site selection and designing of water harvesting project with minimum cost, efforts and time compared  to the traditional methods in addition to giving an accurate results.

Key words: Water harvesting, geographical information system, global positioning system, remote sensing, digital elevation model, watershed parameters