A Simple Predictive Tool for Lower Brahmaputra River Basin Monsoon Flooding

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shithi Kamal-Heikman ◽  
Louis A. Derry ◽  
Jery R. Stedinger ◽  
Christopher C. Duncan

Abstract The Brahmaputra River of South Asia is the fourth largest river in the world in terms of annual discharge. The lower Brahmaputra River basin is susceptible to catastrophic flooding with major social, economic, and public health impacts. There is relatively little rainfall and snowpack information for the watershed, and the system is poorly understood hydrologically. Using a combination of available remotely sensed and gauge data, this study analyzes snow cover, rainfall, and monsoon period discharge for a 14-yr time period (1986–99). It is found that interannual rainfall variability is low and is a weak predictor of monsoon discharge volumes. Strong evidence is found, however, that maximum spring snow cover in the upper Brahmaputra basin is a good predictor of the monsoon flood volume. Despite the temporal and spatial limitations of the data, this study’s analysis demonstrates the potential for developing an empirical tool for predicting large flood events that may allow an annual early window for mitigating flood damages in the lower Brahmaputra basin, home to 300 million people.

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4585 (2) ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
ACHOM DARSHAN ◽  
WAIKHOM VISHWANATH ◽  
SANTOSHKUMAR ABUJAM ◽  
DEBANGSHU NARAYAN DAS

Exostoma kottelati, new species, is described from the Ranga River, Brahmaputra basin, in Arunachal Pradesh state, northeastern India. It differs from congeners in the Brahmaputra River basin in having a longer adipose-fin base (33.4–36.0 % SL vs. 23.4–32.9), a greater (except E. mangdechhuensis) pre-pelvic length (45.6–47.3 % SL vs. 39.3–44.6) and a greater pre-anal length (73.9–76.5 % SL vs. 62.2–70.1). It further differs from all known congeners by the following unique combination characters: the adipose fin is distinctly separated from the dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays, pre-dorsal length 38.9–41.7% SL, adipose-fin base length 33.4–36 % SL, caudal peduncle length 18.7–21.1 % SL, caudal peduncle depth 8.8–9.5 % SL, and body depth at anus 12.5–13.5 % SL. This is the fifth species of Exostoma known from the Brahmaputra River basin. 


Author(s):  
Pulendra Dutta ◽  
Arup Kumar Sarma

Abstract A robust hydrological assessment is a challenging task in regions of limited hydro-climatological information. This level of uncertainty is further augmented in studies of flood hydrology for regions like the Brahmaputra River basin, where spatial variations of topography, land use, soil, and weather components are very high. The present study describes the development of a suitable hydrologic model for the data-scarce transboundary Brahmaputra River basin occupying an area of more than 5,42,000 km2. The main objective is to provide hydrologic assessment of the Brahmaputra River basin, even at locations having hardly any historical records. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is calibrated and validated using observed discharge of three sections located on the main stem. The results show a fair strength of the statistical parameters. Moreover, the model has been found to produce a satisfactory replica of historical flows at the tributaries with a fair value of correlation (R2 = 0.77) at Golaghat. The results of this model would facilitate the ability of the local authorities with science-based elements to carry out decisions on the management of water resources at the main basin, and even at the sub-basin level.


2019 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 171-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swati Verma ◽  
Abhijit Mukherjee ◽  
Chandan Mahanta ◽  
Runti Choudhury ◽  
Rakesh P. Badoni ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safat Sikder ◽  
Xiaodong Chen ◽  
Faisal Hossain ◽  
Jason B. Roberts ◽  
Franklin Robertson ◽  
...  

Abstract This study asks the question of whether GCMs are ready to be operationalized for streamflow forecasting in South Asian river basins, and if so, at what temporal scales and for which water management decisions are they likely to be relevant? The authors focused on the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna basins for which there is a gridded hydrologic model calibrated for the 2002–10 period. The North American Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) suite of eight GCM hindcasts was applied to generate precipitation forecasts for each month of the 1982–2012 (30 year) period at up to 6 months of lead time, which were then downscaled according to the bias-corrected statistical downscaling (BCSD) procedure to daily time steps. A global retrospective forcing dataset was used for this downscaling procedure. The study clearly revealed that a regionally consistent forcing for BCSD, which is currently unavailable for the region, is one of the primary conditions to realize reasonable skill in streamflow forecasting. In terms of relative RMSE (normalized by reference flow obtained from the global retrospective forcings used in downscaling), streamflow forecast uncertainty (RMSE) was found to be 38%–50% at monthly scale and 22%–35% at seasonal (3 monthly) scale. The Ganges River (regulated) experienced higher uncertainty than the Brahmaputra River (unregulated). In terms of anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC), the streamflow forecasting at seasonal (3 monthly) scale was found to have less uncertainty (>0.3) than at monthly scale (<0.25). The forecast skill in the Brahmaputra basin showed more improvement when the time horizon was aggregated from monthly to seasonal than the Ganges basin. Finally, the skill assessment for the individual seasons revealed that the flow forecasting using NMME data had less uncertainty during monsoon season (July–September) in the Brahmaputra basin and in postmonsoon season (October–December) in the Ganges basin. Overall, the study indicated that GCMs can have value for management decisions only at seasonal or annual water balance applications at best if appropriate historical forcings are used in downscaling. The take-home message of this study is that GCMs are not yet ready for prime-time operationalization for a wide variety of multiscale water management decisions for the Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5023 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-250
Author(s):  
LAISHRAM KOSYGIN ◽  
PRATIMA SINGH ◽  
SHIBANANDA RATH

Glyptothorax rupiri, a new sisorid catfish, is described from the Brahmaputra River basin in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India. It differs from its congeners in the Indian subcontinent by the following combination of characters: the presence of plicae on the ventral surface of the pectoral spine and first pelvic-fin ray; a posteriorly serrated dorsal-fin spine, its length 11.3–12.2% SL; body depth at anus 11.2–13.4% SL; a thoracic adhesive apparatus longer than broad, with a V-shaped median depression which opens posteriorly; an arrow-shaped anterior nuchal plate element; adipose-fin base length 10.9–12.6% SL; nasal barbel not reaching anterior orbital margin; 14–18 serrae on posterior margin of the pectoral-fin spine; body with two longitudinal pale-cream stripes; densely tuberculated skin; and the presence of numerous tubercles on the dorsal surface of pectoral and pelvic-fin rays.  


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document