Abstract:
Pakistan is an agricultural country and the agriculture sector has an essential role in the GDP. Agriculture production is dependent on the availability of water. Climate change adversely impacts agriculture production and the water sector. This research attempts to put forward such a framework for identifying potential sites for Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) in the area to mitigate the water requirement for crop irrigation. The Rawalpindi and Chakwal district are selected for RWH site selection which are located in the Pothohar region and their climate is Semi-Arid. At present, the area is under water stress conditions due to low rainfall and extensive deforestation. There are a number of famous lakes like Kallar Kahar, Uchali, Khabeki and Jhallar that have problems with water quality and storage. A Multi-Criteria Decision (MCD) method was used on Earth Observation (EO) dataset and weather data for the suitable site selection of RWH for domestic and agriculture. The thematic maps were extracted such as Soil map, land use /land cover, vegetation cover, drainage network and drainage density. The suitable site for RWH was developed in Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Five layers were selected slope, rainfall depth, drainage density, LULC and HSG. This shows that the soil and rainfall depth are the most important variables for RWH. The suitability map indicated that highly suitable sites are found where the soil with low infiltration rate. The RWH suitability map presented can assist decision-makers, hydrologists, and natural resources planners in finding appropriate locations for constructing the RWH system.
Page(s):
27-37
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Pakistan Journal of Meterology, Volume: 15, Issue: 29, Year: 2023
Keywords:
LULC
,
MCDM
,
NDVI
,
EO
,
Drainage density
,
RWH