Kukuntod Nontaporn, Wijitkosum Saowanee
Interdisciplinary Program in Environmental Science, Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
Environmental Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
Heliyon. 2024 Jun 4;10(11):e32347. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32347. eCollection 2024 Jun 15.
Generally, drought is influenced by both spatial characteristics and anthropogenic activities within an area. Drought vulnerability assessment is a critical tool that can be effectively used to develop proper drought mitigation strategies to prevent avoidable losses. To develop suitable drought mitigation strategies, the overall drought vulnerability must be assessed, and the interaction among drought-influencing factors in the area should be considered. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate the interactions among critical drought-influencing factors and drought vulnerability in the Lam Ta Kong Watershed via spatial analysis with the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and geographical information system (GIS) technology. Ten drought-influencing factors were considered in the vulnerability assessment: slope, elevation, soil texture, soil fertility, stream density, precipitation, temperature, precipitation days, evaporation, and land use. The results indicated that the critical drought-influencing factors were precipitation, precipitation days, and land use, resulting in most of the watershed experiencing high drought vulnerability (35.1% of the watershed or 1810.83 km). Moreover, this research highlighted the interactions among the critical drought-influencing factors. Precipitation interacted with precipitation days to cause drought vulnerability across the watershed, with a p-value <0.05. Similarly, the interactions between precipitation and land use and between precipitation days and land use, with p-values <0.05, showed that they were associated with and influenced by drought in the Lam Ta Kong Watershed. This study further indicated that appropriate drought mitigation strategies for this watershed must consider the interactions among these drought-influencing factors, as well as their specific interactions across the watershed.
一般来说，干旱受到一个地区的空间特征和人为活动的双重影响。干旱脆弱性评估是一种关键工具，可有效用于制定适当的干旱缓解策略，以防止可避免的损失。为了制定合适的干旱缓解策略，必须评估总体干旱脆弱性，并考虑该地区干旱影响因素之间的相互作用。因此，本研究旨在通过层次分析法（AHP）和地理信息系统（GIS）技术进行空间分析，调查蓝塔空流域关键干旱影响因素与干旱脆弱性之间的相互作用。在脆弱性评估中考虑了十个干旱影响因素：坡度、海拔、土壤质地、土壤肥力、河流密度、降水量、温度、降水天数、蒸发量和土地利用。结果表明，关键干旱影响因素是降水量、降水天数和土地利用，导致该流域大部分地区遭受高干旱脆弱性（占流域面积的35.1%或1810.83平方公里）。此外，本研究突出了关键干旱影响因素之间的相互作用。降水量与降水天数相互作用，导致整个流域出现干旱脆弱性，p值<0.05。同样，降水量与土地利用之间以及降水天数与土地利用之间的相互作用，p值<0.05，表明它们与蓝塔空流域的干旱相关并受其影响。本研究进一步表明，该流域适当的干旱缓解策略必须考虑这些干旱影响因素之间的相互作用，以及它们在整个流域的具体相互作用。
