A Geosensor Site Suitability Analysis for Flood Early Warning/Management in the Indus River Basin

Floods are one of the most devastating natural hazards to have hit Pakistan in the recent past. Most historical floods in Pakistan have occurred in the Indus River Basin. These events have inflicted huge loss of human life, livestock, agriculture and infrastructure. The flood warning system in Pakistan needs to be innovated and upgraded in order to minimize losses during floods and meet the challenge of recurring flood hazard. This research focuses on site suitability analysis for the installation of geosensors in the Indus River Basin. The recurrence of floods in Pakistan in the years 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015 was mapped using MODIS (MOD09GQ) during the monsoon season. The flood recurrence in addition to the associated factors was compared using the multi-criteria decision-making technique (analytical hierarchy process). A weighted overlay analysis model was devised so as to take these inputs and provide the most suitable sites for the installation of geosensors as output. The model’s result revealed the most suitable sites for the installation of geosensors which were narrowed down to 100 locations, divided into three zones, covering the entire Indus River Basin.