Abstract
Cloudbursts are among the most significant natural hazard that occurs in the Indian Himalayan states. In India, during the monsoon, clouds originate from the Bay of Bengal and travel all along the Gangetic plains and finally reach the Himalayas and fall in the form of a torrential downpour. The heavy downpour in hilly areas results in landslides as well as sediment-laden flash-floods. Such floods are with a devastating force that uproots any infrastructure in its route resulting in loss of life and property bringing life to a standstill. Understanding the mechanism involved in cloudburst driving processes such as orographic lifting, distribution of rainfall, precipitation thresholds, and the source are still an area of active research. In recent years, the frequency of such incidents has increased manifold, perhaps due to increased anthropogenic activities and climate change phenomena. Very few studies are available to explain these incidents. The present paper analyses the cloudburst events from 2001 to 2019 in the state of Uttarakhand. An attempt is made to describe their characteristics and impacts. The role of large atmospheric circulations, hydro-meteorology, topography, and land-cover changes in driving these events are discussed with the help of remote sensing datasets. The effective database and the decision support system can help in mitigating the adverse impacts of cloudburst in the times to come.
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Singh, S., Kansal, M.L. (2022). Cloudburst—A Major Disaster in The Indian Himalayan States. In: Kolathayar, S., Pal, I., Chian, S.C., Mondal, A. (eds) Civil Engineering for Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5312-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5312-4_9
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