A systematic review on approaches and methods used for flood vulnerability assessment: framework for future research

Natural Hazards - Floods have always been associated with widespread devastation and destruction since the emergence of human civilization. The intensity of this disaster has been increasing due to...     

Torrential rainfall-triggered shallow landslide characteristics and susceptibility assessment using ensemble data-driven models in the Dongjiang Reservoir Watershed,China

Natural Hazards - This study investigated the characteristics of rainfall-triggered landslides during the Typhoon Bilis in the Dongjiang Reservoir Watershed, China. The comparative shallow...     

Spatial variation in fluvial hydraulics with major bed erosion zone: a study of Kharsoti river of India in the post monsoon period

This study attempts to assess the spatial variation of fluvial hydraulics with special emphasis on hydrological components at upper, middle and lower part of the Kharsoti river basin. The study encompasses the scenario of a micro bedrock river of India in the post monsoon period. This paper includes the study of hydrological components such as discharge, velocity, shear stress, stream power, specific stream power, width-depth relation and roughness and its interrelationships with different parts of the river basin with related mathematical equations and identification of major river bed erosive zones coupled with geo-hydrological components with geological explanation. Kharsoti is a typical example of rejuvenated antecedent tributary river of Subarnarekha River basin in Chota Nagpur Plateau. It is necessary to give a new threshold to the quantitative methods regarding the fluvial hydraulic studies under a systematic scientific geographical and hydrological background. The results also involve some specific techniques, equations and GIS mapping. The result of this study will help to open the scenario of hydraulics of a micro river basin in a contemporary method.     

Assessing and monitoring the human influence on water quality in response to land transformation within Wular environs of Kashmir Valley

Wular Lake is the largest freshwater lake of India located in north western Himalayas of Kashmir Valley which has got deteriorated over the period of time due to the enough human interference within its catchment areas. The purpose of the present research study is to identify the changes in land use and land cover in the Wular catchment as well as its transformation into other classes and its impact on the overall water quality of the lake. For the present study Landsat (TM) image of 1992 and Landsat-8 (OLI) of 2015 have been used for assessing the changes in land use/land cover. Supervised classification technique was used to generate LULC maps of different categories pertaining to study area for years 1992 and 2015. Regarding water quality, water samples were collected from five different spots of the lake in four different seasons of the year—from December 2014 to September 2015. The sites from which samples were collected are Vintage Park, Ashtungo, Watlab, Makhdomyari and Ningal as site 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively. Some parameters of water like temperature, transparency, depth, conductivity and pH were examined on the spot during the sample collection by their respective measuring instruments. The rest of the parameters were examined in hydrological laboratory within 24 h after collection following the standard methods of APHA (Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21st edn. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, 2005). The relationship between the LULC classes and water quality parameters has been calculated with the help of SHDI which has shown both positive and as well as negative results.     

Evaluating effectiveness of frequency ratio,fuzzy logic and logistic regression models in assessing landslide susceptibility: a case from Rudraprayag district,India

Rudraprayag in Garhwal Himalayan division is one of the most vulnerable districts to landslides in India. Heavy rainfall, steep slope and developmental activities are important factors for the occurrence of landslides in the district. Therefore, specific assessment of landslide susceptibility and its accuracy at regional level is essential for disaster management and proper land use planning. The article evaluates effectiveness of frequency ratio, fuzzy logic and logistic regression models for assessing landslide susceptibility in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand state, India. A landslide inventory map was prepared and verified by field data. Fourteen landslide parameters and generated inventory map were utilized to prepare landslide susceptibility maps through frequency ratio, fuzzy logic and logistic regression models. Landslide susceptibility maps generated through these models were classified into very high, high, medium, low and very low categories using natural breaks classification. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, spatially agreed area approach and seed cell area index (SCAI) method were used to validate the landslide models. Validation results revealed that fuzzy logic model was found to be more effective in assessing landslide susceptibility in the study area. The landslide susceptibility map generated through fuzzy logic model can be best utilized for landslide disaster management and effective land use planning.     

Soil erosion potential hotspot zone identification using machine learning and statistical approaches in eastern India

Natural Hazards - Land degradation is very severe in the subtropical monsoon-dominated region due to the uncertainty of rainfall in the long term, and most of the rainfall occurs with high...