Climate change effect on water resources in Varanasi district, India

Abstract Evapotranspiration and water availability are driven by changing climate and land cover parameters. In the present study, climatological records and land cover data were analysed simultaneously to accomplish the spatial distributions of climate change effects on water resources in Varanasi...

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Main Authors: Mărgărit‐Mircea Nistor, Praveen K. Rai, Vikas Dugesar, Varun N. Mishra, Prafull Singh, Aman Arora, Virendra Kumar Kumra, Iulius‐Andrei Carebia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Meteorological Applications
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1863
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author Mărgărit‐Mircea Nistor
Praveen K. Rai
Vikas Dugesar
Varun N. Mishra
Prafull Singh
Aman Arora
Virendra Kumar Kumra
Iulius‐Andrei Carebia
author_facet Mărgărit‐Mircea Nistor
Praveen K. Rai
Vikas Dugesar
Varun N. Mishra
Prafull Singh
Aman Arora
Virendra Kumar Kumra
Iulius‐Andrei Carebia
author_sort Mărgărit‐Mircea Nistor
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Evapotranspiration and water availability are driven by changing climate and land cover parameters. In the present study, climatological records and land cover data were analysed simultaneously to accomplish the spatial distributions of climate change effects on water resources in Varanasi district, north India. Humidity–aridity was assessed by Lang's rain factor and De Martonne's aridity index, based on mean monthly rainfall and air temperature from seven meteorological stations. The climate change effect on water resources was evaluated using a 5 × 5 matrix that includes water availability and the aridity index by considering two time periods: 1941–1970 (1950s) and 1971–2000 (1980s). The methodology is based on seasonal crop evapotranspiration (ETc) (initial, mid‐season, end season and cold season) and annual water availability calculations. The high values (≤ 1,045 mm) of ETc were identified during the mid‐season stage. Water availability indicates decreases in the maximums from 718 to 636 mm during the two analysed periods, with a negative impact at the spatial scale. Lang's rain factor (< 40) indicates an arid climate in the northwest, west, east and central parts of the district and a humid climate (Lang's rain factor > 40) in the south. De Martonne's aridity index indicates rapid aridization from south to north (28.3 in the 1950s and 25.6 in the 1980s). The high and very high climate effects on water resources in Varanasi district were found mainly in the crop lands, while in the urban areas the climate effect is low. The much affected area by climate change and land cover was depicted during the recent period (1980s). This statement was proved also by the Mann and Kendall test, which indicates a negative trend for annual precipitation at all stations (for the period 1941–2000), while the mean annual temperature had a positive trend for four stations. These findings suggest that climate change had a negative effect on water resources during the last 60 years in the study area.
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spelling doaj.art-4c11bc677b734a10b273ca584a92ca042023-02-22T07:11:32ZengWileyMeteorological Applications1350-48271469-80802020-01-01271n/an/a10.1002/met.1863Climate change effect on water resources in Varanasi district, IndiaMărgărit‐Mircea Nistor0Praveen K. Rai1Vikas Dugesar2Varun N. Mishra3Prafull Singh4Aman Arora5Virendra Kumar Kumra6Iulius‐Andrei Carebia7Romanian Academy, National Institute for Economic Research “Costin C. Kiritescu” of the Romanian Academy/Centre for Mountain Economy (CE‐MONT) Vatra Dornei RomaniaAmity Institute of Geo‐Informatics and Remote Sensing Amity University Noida IndiaDepartment of Geography Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi IndiaCentre for Climate Change and Water Research Suresh Gyan Vihar University Jaipur IndiaAmity Institute of Geo‐Informatics and Remote Sensing Amity University Noida IndiaDepartment of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences JMI University New Delhi IndiaDepartment of Geography Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi IndiaDepartment of Educational Technology German European School Singapore SingaporeAbstract Evapotranspiration and water availability are driven by changing climate and land cover parameters. In the present study, climatological records and land cover data were analysed simultaneously to accomplish the spatial distributions of climate change effects on water resources in Varanasi district, north India. Humidity–aridity was assessed by Lang's rain factor and De Martonne's aridity index, based on mean monthly rainfall and air temperature from seven meteorological stations. The climate change effect on water resources was evaluated using a 5 × 5 matrix that includes water availability and the aridity index by considering two time periods: 1941–1970 (1950s) and 1971–2000 (1980s). The methodology is based on seasonal crop evapotranspiration (ETc) (initial, mid‐season, end season and cold season) and annual water availability calculations. The high values (≤ 1,045 mm) of ETc were identified during the mid‐season stage. Water availability indicates decreases in the maximums from 718 to 636 mm during the two analysed periods, with a negative impact at the spatial scale. Lang's rain factor (< 40) indicates an arid climate in the northwest, west, east and central parts of the district and a humid climate (Lang's rain factor > 40) in the south. De Martonne's aridity index indicates rapid aridization from south to north (28.3 in the 1950s and 25.6 in the 1980s). The high and very high climate effects on water resources in Varanasi district were found mainly in the crop lands, while in the urban areas the climate effect is low. The much affected area by climate change and land cover was depicted during the recent period (1980s). This statement was proved also by the Mann and Kendall test, which indicates a negative trend for annual precipitation at all stations (for the period 1941–2000), while the mean annual temperature had a positive trend for four stations. These findings suggest that climate change had a negative effect on water resources during the last 60 years in the study area.https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1863climate changeclimate indicesevapotranspirationland coverVaranasi districtwater resources
spellingShingle Mărgărit‐Mircea Nistor
Praveen K. Rai
Vikas Dugesar
Varun N. Mishra
Prafull Singh
Aman Arora
Virendra Kumar Kumra
Iulius‐Andrei Carebia
Climate change effect on water resources in Varanasi district, India
Meteorological Applications
climate change
climate indices
evapotranspiration
land cover
Varanasi district
water resources
title Climate change effect on water resources in Varanasi district, India
title_full Climate change effect on water resources in Varanasi district, India
title_fullStr Climate change effect on water resources in Varanasi district, India
title_full_unstemmed Climate change effect on water resources in Varanasi district, India
title_short Climate change effect on water resources in Varanasi district, India
title_sort climate change effect on water resources in varanasi district india
topic climate change
climate indices
evapotranspiration
land cover
Varanasi district
water resources
url https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1863
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