Assessment of flash flood vulnerability zonation through Geospatial technique in high altitude Himalayan watershed, Himachal Pradesh India

Urban growth, extreme climate, and mismanagement are crucial controlling factors that affect flood vulnerability at wadi catchments. Therefore, this study attempts to understand the impacts of these three factors on the flash flood vulnerability in different climatic regions in Egypt. An integrated approach is presented to evaluate the urban growth from 1984 to 2019 by using Google Images and SENTINEL-2 data, and to develop hazard maps by using a rainfall-runoff-inundation model (RRI). Annual rainfall trend analysis was performed to evaluate the temporal variability trend. The hazard maps that were created were classified into three categories (low, medium, and high) and integrated with the urban growth maps to evaluate the impacts on the flood-vulnerable areas. The results show a significant increase in urban growth resulting in an increase of prone areas for flood hazards over time. However, the degree of this hazard is mainly related to growth directions. Mismanagement affects urban growth directions in both planned and unplanned growth, whether by loss of control over unplanned growth or by deficiencies in approved plans. The rainfall analysis showed that there is no explicit relationship to increases or decreases in the flood vulnerable areas. An urban planning approach is recommended for risk reduction management based on a comprehensive study considering such factors.

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A GIS-Based Support Vector Machine Model for Flash Flood Vulnerability Assessment and Mapping in China

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information ◽

10.3390/ijgi8070297 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (7) ◽

pp. 297 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Junnan Xiong ◽

Jin Li ◽

Weiming Cheng ◽

Nan Wang ◽

Liang Guo

Keyword(s):

Support Vector Machine ◽

Vulnerability Assessment ◽

Flash Flood ◽

Flash Floods ◽

Support Vector ◽

Land Area ◽

Analytic Hierarchy ◽

Machine Model ◽

Flood Vulnerability ◽

Development Processes

Flash floods are one of the natural disasters that threaten the lives of many people all over the world every year. Flash floods are significantly affected by the intensification of extreme climate events and interactions with exposed and vulnerable socio-economic systems impede regional development processes. Hence, it is important to estimate the loss due to flash floods before the disaster occurs. However, there are no comprehensive vulnerability assessment results for flash floods in China. Fortunately, the National Mountain Flood Disaster Investigation Project provided a foundation to develop this proposed assessment. In this study, an index system was established from the exposure and disaster reduction capability categories, and is based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methods. We evaluated flash flood vulnerability by adopting the support vector machine (SVM) model. Our results showed 439 counties with high and extremely high vulnerability (accounting for 10.5% of the land area and corresponding to approximately 100 million hectares (ha)), 571 counties with moderate vulnerability (accounting for 19.18% of the land area and corresponding to approximately 180 million ha), and 1128 counties with low and extremely low vulnerability (accounting for 39.43% of the land area and corresponding to approximately 370 million ha). The highly-vulnerable counties were mainly concentrated in the south and southeast regions of China, moderately-vulnerable counties were primarily concentrated in the central, northern, and southwestern regions of China, and low-vulnerability counties chiefly occurred in the northwest regions of China. Additionally, the results of the spatial autocorrelation suggested that the “High-High” values of spatial agglomeration areas mainly occurred in the Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Chongqing, and Beijing areas. On the basis of these results, our study can be used as a proposal for population and building distribution readjustments, and the management of flash floods in China.

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GEOSPATIAL ASSESSMENT BASED ON FERTILITY AND MORTALITY DIFFERENTIAL INDICES OF NATURAL SELECTION IN NORTH-WEST AND EASTERN HIMALAYAN POPULATIONS

Journal of Biosocial Science ◽

10.1017/s0021932016000705 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 49 (6) ◽

pp. 811-825

Author(s):

Krishan Sharma

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Himachal Pradesh ◽

Embryonic Mortality ◽

Human Populations ◽

Similar Data ◽

Lower Altitude ◽

North West ◽

Selection Intensities ◽

Total Selection

SummaryThere is contradictory evidence of having fewer live births and higher embryonic mortality among high-altitude populations than their counterparts at lower altitude. This study explores the geospatial differences in selection intensities among human populations living in different ecological settings. Reproductive data from post-menopausal women were collected from 75 women from near Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, at an altitude of 2150 m above sea level and 100 women from Jind, Haryana, at an altitude of 227 m. Secondary data were taken from 85 women from the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh at an average altitude of 3420 m. A comparison of the study data was made with similar data from different populations living in the western and eastern Himalayas. The total selection intensity index based on Johnston and Kensinger’s index was highest in Shimla and lowest in Kinnaur. The fertility selection component was highest in Shimla and lowest in Kinnaur. The prenatal mortality contribution to the total selection was highest in Shimla (30.76%) and lowest in Kinnaur (2.14%), while the contributions of normalized postnatal mortality were 16.39% and 57.80% in Shimla and Kinnaur, respectively. The fertility component of selection was higher than the mortality component in Shimla, while in the other two places the reverse was observed. Hypoxic conditions at high altitude seem to have little effect on the fertility and embryonic mortality rates of indigenous people. The geospatial differences in the selection intensities may be due to differences in ethnic, behavioural ecology, environmental, cultural and socioeconomic factors.

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Characterisation of Spiti Horses of India

Animal Genetic Resources Information ◽

10.1017/s1014233900001759 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 34 ◽

pp. 75-81 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

R.K. Pundir

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Breeding Season ◽

Body Length ◽

Himachal Pradesh ◽

The Body ◽

Intensive Management ◽

Alpine Pasture ◽

Service Period ◽

Face Length ◽

The Face

SummaryThe breeding tract of Spiti horses is located in the Kaja subdivision of the Lahul and Spiti district and the Yanthang area of the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh in India. The horses in this area are smaller in height and called Spiti ponies. They are reared as pack animals at high altitude. Their body is well developed with fairly strong bones. The mane is long and has hairs of 25 to 40 cm in length. The body is solid, displaying and alert attitude, the face is convex, the ears are erect and the eyes are black. The tail is medium in length and straight. The horses are docile in temperament. The body colours are grey, brown, black and piebald. On an average, these horses stand 129 cm height, have a body length of 100 cm, a heart girth of 148 cm, an ear length of 15 cm and a face length of 50 cm. Animals are reared on grazing (alpine pasture) from May to November and stall fed from December to April. The breeding season is from February to July. The average age at first fertile service, age at first foaling, gestation period, service period and foaling interval were estimated as 1 054, 1 297, 333, 63 and 516 days, respectively under intensive management at Kamand farm. It has also been ascertained from various sources that their number is declining rapidly, however breed population statistics are not available. There is, therefore, an urgent need to conserve this breed.

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Impact of Controlled Burning on Herbs in High Altitude Zone of Chirpine Forests in Solan and Nahan Circles, Himachal Pradesh

International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management ◽

10.23910/1.2020.2139 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 414-424

Author(s):

Ranjeet Kumar ◽

◽

Raj Kumar Verma ◽

Krishna Kumari ◽

Vikas Kumar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Himachal Pradesh ◽

Controlled Burning

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Reproductive tract infection among the women of high-altitude areas of Lahaul and Spiti District of Himachal Pradesh, India

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20211253 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 1904

Author(s):

Kalyan B. Saha ◽

Ravendra K. Sharma ◽

Bandhu Parihar ◽

Bimla Devi ◽

Arvind Verma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tract Infection ◽

High Altitude ◽

Reproductive Tract ◽

Himachal Pradesh ◽

The Other ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Personal Hygiene ◽

Age Group ◽

Female Population ◽

Reproductive Tract Infection

Background: Reproductive tract infection (RTI) is a serious public health problem particularly among the women in reproductive age group. Tribal women particularly living in high altitude cold areas are more vulnerable to these infections as availability of water for domestic purpose is scarce hence affects personal hygiene.Methods: A door to door survey was conducted by canvassing a pre-designed interview schedule for capturing the reported symptoms of RTI among 494 women in the age group 15-49 years in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.Results: Around 26% of the respondents reported one or the other symptoms of RTI experienced by them during three months preceding the survey. The reported symptoms were mostly related to discharge.Conclusions: The study is carried out among women of high-altitude tribal areas of Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, where such data/information is not available. Maintenance of personal hygiene is poor, more than one-fourth women had one or the other symptoms of RTI. Lower economic status and personal hygiene practices are strongly associated with RTI. The findings of the study will draw attention of Scientists, Program managers to address the issues for qualitative improvement of female population of the area. Need to sensitise the masses on the issues of RTI and strengthen its outreach health services in the district.

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