Examining Spatio-Temporal Change Detection in the Indus River Delta with the Help of Satellite Data

• Published in: Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 2015-07, Vol.40 (7), p.1933-1946
• Main Authors: Mahar, Gohar A., Zaigham, Nayyer A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Engineering; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Research Article - Earth Sciences; Science
• ISSN: 1319-8025; 2191-4281
• DOI: 10.1007/s13369-014-1494-8

The morphology of a river thalweg in a deltaic environment is continuously reshaped by the interactive balancing of the fluvial and marine hydrodynamic processes. Fluvial flow parameters such as volume and flow velocity are favorable to increase the width of thalweg and develop a braided pattern in river course within a delta region. The present study utilized historical satellite images to show that as result of the development of the world largest water divergent networks, the Indus River discharge and sediments load discharge into the Indus delta have been enormously depleted in the last 150 years. Satellite images revealed significant and successive narrowing of the thalweg and distinct widening of the course of the Indus River near the delta. Based on the model results, we show that the style of the rapid morphological changes demonstrates seaward widening and the landward narrowing of the Indus river course and its thalweg. Our results indicate that anthropogenic diversions of the flow in the upstream region of the Indus River have resulted in the devastating domination of marine hydrodynamic processes over the weakened and destabilized natural fluvial processes in the delta region.