Regular monitoring of drought events, watershed characterization, management, and development efforts is crucial for future disaster predictions and mitigation strategies. The drought susceptibility investigation has been carried out in the Ken River Basin of Bundelkhand region, one of the most drought-prone areas in India. Proxies used in the present study are long-term climatological data (rainfall, standardized precipitation index, and aridity index), satellite data (slope, drainage density [DD], distance to river, and normalized difference vegetation index), lithology, lineament density, and groundwater depth. By the analytical hierarchy process, weightage of each factor is assigned according to its importance. Study shows that nearly 48% of the area of the basin experiences moderate to severe drought conditions. In the last five decades, there have been 22 years of extreme drought, with the most extended period being 1972-1974 and the driest year being 2006-2007. Sensitivity analysis reveals that lithology, slope, and DD are the most significant parameters in the susceptibility analysis. Model validation through an artificial neural network demonstrates the model's high accuracy (0.9) and sensitivity with minor errors. An integrated study of drought susceptibility and morphometry is useful for identifying the drought risk hotspots in the basin. The investigation will be helpful in river basin management and disaster management strategies.
Environmental catastrophes on a global scale have prompted a thorough evaluation of river morphology for sustainable basin development methods. Geomorphological investigations of river basins can provide significant information regarding quaternary tectonic deformations. The present investigation intends to reveal tectonic imprints in the Bearma River Basin (BRB). Bearma is a significant river in central India which flows through Vindhyan Supergroup, Lameta and Deccan Trap and contributes to developing the marginal Gangetic plain's architecture. The digital elevation data have been utilized to obtain the morphotectonic indices, tectonic activity classes and topographic characteristics. Bearma is an elongated basin with uplifted topography, continuously migrating channels, high hypsometric integral, and several stream length-gradient anomalies, indicating tectonic control over the basin. According to the tectonic activity index, 15.33, 38.99, and 46.55% areas of the BRB have high, moderate, or low tectonic activity, respectively. Topographical, lineament studies and field investigation show significant relief variation and prominence of tectonic activity over erosional and depositional processes in shaping the landscape towards the southern and south-eastern region of the BRB. Reactivation of basement faults and subsurface lineaments due to Himalayan tectonic and activity of the Son-Narmada North Fault are responsible for the recent deformation and development of the current hydrographic network.
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