Rainfall distribution in relation to flooding in upper Citarum watershed, Indonesia

Abstract

Disasters caused by weather, such as flood, have become more frequent since the late 1990s. Compared to the previous decade, there are more than twice the number of floods in the world. Essentially, flood often occurs in lowland area with compact river systems. Unlike the case that often happened in the area around the Upper Citarum Watershed, floods occur because of the physical characteristics of the basin in the bowl-like form. In addition, rain that occur consecutively for a certain period of time in a day can result a surplus runoff water falling to the surface of the earth. Observation of rainfall has actually been carried out quantitatively since the 19th century. Satellite-based rainfall observation has the main advantage of being quite accurate in spatial and temporal coverage. This research is intended to see the pattern of rainfall distribution in relation to flooding in the Upper Citarum Watershed using remote sensing methods to process satellite images of PERSIANN CCS in obtaining rainfall data in each sub-watershed. Spatial results show six areas of rainfall distribution as of sub-watershed. Meanwhile, temporal results are analyzed with a graph that shows the pattern of hourly rainfall behaviour.