Spatial Modeling of River Bank Shifting and Associated LULC Changes of the Kaljani River in Himalayan Foothills

Channel dynamics is an inherent characteristic of the river in the floodplain region. The river bankline shifting and associate land use land cover (LULC) change is not only geomorphological but also an environmentally vital hazardous issue. It is a significant impact on the ecosystem and human life. GIS-based, DSAS and CA-Markov models are efficient to accurately measure historical and predictionevaluation of the relation between channel shifting and LULC change. In this study, forty-eight years (1972-2020) of earth observatory data have been used to demarcate the channel bank position and LULC change detection along the Kaljani River at the eastern Himalayan foothill. During 1998-2008, very high erosion rate on both bankline, which are about -4.48 m/y and -3.48 m/y at the left and right, respectively compared the others time frame. The overall result of the predicted bankline represents that the bulky expansion will occur along the left bank and sediment accretion will take place at the right bank. Among the three zones, both banks of zone ‘A’ (lower part of the river) is the worst affected part in the past, present, and future time. The LULC change of all six classes from 1972 to 1998 was very high when compared with the change between 1998 and 2020. Moreover, the long profile, hypsometric curve value, and the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) value have been a significant help in understanding and identification of consequences reasons. The level of accuracy is validated by the observed bankline positions (2020) with predicted bankline (2020) and observed LULC (2020) to predicted LULC (2020) empirically with RMSE and statistical test. Therefore, the output of the prediction not only serves as the spatial guidelines for monitoring future trends of channel shifting and land use planning management.

GENERATION Z: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM

The behavioral matters of Generation Z, who use the possibilities of the Internet to meet their needs, have been considered. There is no universal digital format. The company’s interaction with the consumer facilitates the implementation of an omnichannel marketing strategy that creates conditions for their continuous interaction, as easy and convenient as possible to meet existing expectations, requests, and needs. As a result of the study, the opportunities (consumer’s independent choice of means of interaction with the manufacturer, channel shifting in the process of purchasing, interaction with the manufacturer regardless from the chosen communication channel) and barriers (absence of isolated online channels for sales, usage of slow-loading Internet platforms with inconvenient interfaces, absence of a dedicated app or limited possibilities of its usage, etc.) of omnichannel marketing implementation for the Generation Z target audience have been revealed. Their media preferences, such social networks as VKontakte, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, were defined. It has been determined, that Generation Z’s consumer expectations and consumer behavior are influenced by opinion leaders and reference groups, these mainly being bloggers, peers and occasionally older companions, whom they find in social networks.

Reconstructing the channel shifting pattern of the Torsa River on the Himalayan Foreland Basin over the last 250 years

The varied physiography, incidences of high seasonal discharge, influences of neo-tectonic activity and the young geological foundation with less consolidated cohesive and non-cohesive sediment have left the Himalayan foreland basin a formidable ground, where silt-laden rivers tend to migrate frequently. A set of maps prepared after 1764, space photographs captured in 1970 and current satellite images from 2015 and 2017 were studied to reconstruct the fluvial dynamics of the Torsa River on the foreland basin of Sikkim-Bhutan Himalaya considering a time span of nearly 250 years. Evidence collected from colonial literature, the above-mentioned satellite images and a field survey, were combined to verify results taken from the old maps used as the base of the study. The application of satellite remote sensing and analysis of the topographic signatures of the palaeo-courses in the form of the palaeo-levee, abandoned courses and ox-bow lakes were the major operational attributes in this study. As a consequence of the channel migration of Torsa River since 1764, the historical floodplain of Torsa has been topographically marked by beheaded old distributaries, a misfit channel system and the presence of abandoned segments. Morphometric changes in the old courses, major flood events and neo-tectonic activity guided an overall trend of channel migration eastwards and has led to a couple of channel oscillation events in the Torsa River over the last 250 years. The mechanism of the avulsion events was thoroughly driven by sedimentation-induced channel morphometric changes and occasional high discharge.

SUSPENDED SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION ASSESSMENT AS A PRECURSOR TO RIVER CHANNEL SHIFTING IN THE BENGAWAN SOLO RIVER, INDONESIA

This study attempts to recognize the fundamental issues in river morphology by examining suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and flow velocity at the curved channel in an alluvial river. To capture the entire set of the afore mentioned conditions, a field investigation was conducted at the inner and outer banks of the flow path of a curved channel, which is considered as the critical section in river change development. The field observations were conducted over a 1-year period, from January to December 2014, in which both dry and rainy seasons occurred. Because the curved channel is subject to severe erosion, especially around the outer bank, lateral migration of the channel might regularly occur. The field investigation showed that the outer side of the curved section migrated approximately 0.0625 m/month during the study period. The SSC, which peaked at 25% and 43% of the maximal flow velocity in the upstream and downstream sections, respectively, showed the rapid erosion of the curved section leading to lateral channel shifting. A channel resistance evaluation confirmed the potential capability of the riverbed material at the curved section was 20% lower than that in the upstream and downstream sections. According to the SSC and flow features, a new understanding of changing river morphology with respect to a curved channel of the Bengawan Solo River was developed.

IDENTIFICATION OF RIVER BANK EROSION AND INUNDATION HAZARD ZONES USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNIQUES – A CASE STUDY OF INDUS RIVER NEAR LAYYAH DISTRICT, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

This study aims to assess an area of about 70 km along Indus River in Layyah and Muzaffargarh districts of Punjab, Pakistan, which is highly vulnerable to erosion. Actual erosion and deposition has been quantified for each of left and right bank of river over a period of 2002 to 2016. Open source data product of Landsat is used to identify the spatio-temporal changes of Indus River. A model has been developed that extracted the water from satellite images using NDWI. River path of Indus has been mapped for 2002, 2009 and 2016 during high and low flow seasons which not only signifies the channel shifting and river morphology, but also highlights the zones where water over run into land. It has been observed from the study that river is shifting more towards its left bank and the area is highly vulnerable to erosion. In 2009, river eroded 24.3 km2 from right bank while it eroded 100 km2 from left bank. Similarly, in 2016, 12.5 km2 and 71.9 km2 eroded from right and left bank respectively. The river inundation eroded the major agricultural land and affected the life of people and infrastructure. Results provide the latest and reliable information on the dynamics of Indus River in the study area which can be utilized to develop erosion control program and taking practical measures to ensure the safety of life and infrastructure.