Gowhar Meraj

The University of Tokyo | Todai · Department of Ecosystem Studies

River bankline migration is a frequent phenomenon in the river of the floodplain region. Nowadays, channel dynamics-related changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are becoming a risk to the life and property of people living in the vicinity of rivers. A comprehensive evaluation of the causes and consequences of such changes is essential for bett...

Forest fires have become a growing concern worldwide, with climate change exacerbating their frequency and intensity. In the Simlipal region of India, forest fires are relatively rare; however, in 2021, significant damage occurred in the buffer area’s forests. Understanding the driving factors behind these events is essential for developing effecti...

This study delves into the patterns of urban expansion in Kabul, using Landsat and Sentinel satellite imagery as primary tools for analysis. We classified land use and land cover (LULC) into five distinct categories: water bodies, vegetation, barren land, barren rocky terrain, and buildings. The necessary data processing and analysis was conducted...

Climate change and shifts in land use/ land cover (LULC) are critical factors affecting the environmental, societal, and health landscapes, notably influencing the spread of infectious diseases. This study delves into the intricate relationships between climate change, LULC alterations, and the prevalence of vector-borne and waterborne diseases in...

Floods represent a significant threat to human life, property, and agriculture, especially in low-lying floodplains. This study assesses flood susceptibility in the Brahmaputra River basin, which spans China, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh—an area notorious for frequent flooding due to the saturation of river water intake capacity. We developed and...

Groundwater pollution in Rajasthan, India, poses significant challenges due to the region’s heavy reliance on this resource for drinking and irrigation. Given the increasing water scarcity and overexploitation, this study assesses the susceptibility of groundwater pollution in this semi-arid area. We applied and compared vulnerability mapping metho...

The main aim of this study is to comprehensively analyze the dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) changes in the Bathinda region of Punjab, India, encompassing historical, current, and future trends. To forecast future LULC, the Cellular Automaton–Markov Chain (CA) based on artificial neural network (ANN) concepts was used using cartographic...

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to global health and economic stability. Intriguingly, the necessary lockdown measures, while disruptive to human society, inadvertently led to environmental rejuvenation, particularly noticeable in decreased air pollution and i...

The NH 58 area in India has been experiencing an increase in landslide occurrences, posing significant threats to local communities, infrastructure, and the environment. The growing need to identify areas prone to landslides for effective disaster risk management, land use planning, and infrastructure development has led to the increased adoption o...

Climate change is adversely affecting world’s natural resources, including agriculture, water, and forests. In the recent decade, it has seen drastic impact of climate change on Indian Himalayan forests, water agriculture, and horticulture sectors by influencing socioeconomic and ecosystem services. This study documents the perception of the indige...

Amid global concerns regarding climate change and urbanization, understanding the interplay between land use/land cover (LULC) changes, the urban heat island (UHI) effect, and land surface temperatures (LST) is paramount. This study provides an in-depth exploration of these relationships in the context of the Kamrup Metropolitan District, Northeast...

Heavy metal pollution in marine ecosystems is an escalating environmental concern, largely driven by anthropogenic activities, and poses potential threats to ecological health and human well-being. This study embarked on a comprehensive investigation into the concentrations of heavy metals in sediment samples and evaluated their potential ecologica...

Water is the most valuable natural resource on the planet and is essential for life. No living thing can exist without water. Because the overall amount of water in the cycle is constant, even if the distribution changes across time and space, the hydrologic system is termed closed. This fluctuation in distribution causes two hydrological extremes:...

Groundwater is defined as water in saturated zones, which fills all pore space in soil and geologic formations beneath the water table. Rainwater or snowmelt water seeps down through the soil and into the underlying rocks to form it. It is important for human health, environmental balance, and economic progress. About 30% of the world’s freshwater...

Stubble burning in Punjab, India, poses significant environmental challenges, particularly impacting air quality. This study aims to examine the spatial and temporal patterns of stubble burning events and their potential effect on ambient air quality from 2019 to 2022. High-resolution Sentinel-2 satellite imagery was employed to delineate the spati...

Climate change, which encompasses variations in rainfall and temperature patterns, coupled with changes in land use/land cover (LULC), significantly impacts both the environment and society. These two factors, climate change and LULC shifts, have markedly affected human health, both directly and indirectly. Monitoring regional climate patterns, LUL...

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami significantly impacted the coastal shoreline of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, causing widespread destruction of infrastructure and ecological damage. This study aims to analyze the short-and long-term shoreline changes in South Andaman, focusing on 2004-2005 (pre-and post-tsunami) and 1990-2023 (to as...

During the twenty-first century, urbanization and industrialization are rapidly growing in India, adversely destroying the climate. Urban Heat Island can be discerned in urban areas due to anthropogenic activities, industrialization, deforestation, etc. The main peculiarity of the UHI effect is a rise in temperature in core urban areas than their r...

Illegal sand mining has been identified as a significant cause of harm to riverbanks, as it leads to excessive removal of sand from rivers and negatively impacts river shorelines. This investigation aimed to identify instances of shoreline erosion and accretion at illegal sand mining sites along the Chambal River. These sites were selected based on...

The alteration of land use and land cover caused by human activities on a global scale has had a notable impact on ecosystem services at regional and global levels, which are crucial for the survival and welfare of human beings. Merbil, a small freshwater wetland located in the Brahmaputra basin in Assam, India, is not exempt from this phenomenon....

Bank erosion hazard is a frequent occurrence that poses threats to floodplain ecosystems. This analysis examined changes to the Jia Bharali River channel in India using the GIS-based Digital Shoreline Analysis System [DSAS]. The Jia Bharali’s future channel was predicted so as to identify the most erosion-susceptible zones. The rate of bankline mov...

Groundwater resources are increasingly important as the main supply of fresh water for household, industrial, and agricultural activities. However, overuse and depletion of these resources can lead to water scarcity and resource deterioration. Therefore, assessing groundwater availability is essential for sustainable water management. This study ai...

Inland water plants, particularly those that thrive in shallow environments, are vital to the health of aquatic ecosystems. Water hyacinth is a typical example of inland species, an invasive aquatic plant that can drastically alter the natural plant community's floral diversity. The present study aims to assess the impact of water hyacinth biomass...

In contrast to other natural disasters, droughts may develop gradually and last for extended periods of time. The World Meteorological Organization advises using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) for the early identification of drought and understanding of its characteristics over various geographical areas. In this study, we use long-term...

The Kaziranga Eco-Sensitive Zone is located on the edge of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot region. In 1985, the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Nowadays, anthropogenic interference has created a significant negative impact on this national park. As a result, the area under natural habitat is gr...

Alluvial rivers all over the world have one common problem, which is their meandering pattern. This meander formation is because of natural and anthropogenic processes. Barak River is dynamic, and due to this, it is exposed to regular shifting and creates many problems for the people who reside near the river. The livelihood of many people depends...

Spatial variabilities and drivers of land use and land cover (LULC) change over time and are crucial for determining the region’s economic viability and ecological functionality. The North-Western Himalayan (NWH) regions have witnessed drastic changes in LULC over the last 50 years, as a result of which their ecological diversity has been under sig...

To monitor the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), India, during the last week of March 2020, imposed national restrictions on the movement of its citizens (lockdown). Although India’s economy was shut down due to restrictions, the nation observed a sharp decline in particulate matter (PM) concentrations. In recent years, Delhi has experien...

Rapid urbanization has led to the emergence of slums in many developing and industrialized nations. It degrades the quality of life and burdens the urban amenities resulting in the uneven distribution of slums. The majority of people in the developing world live in squatter settlements, and these random gatherings disrupt the economic and social de...

Climate warming-induced glacier recession has resulted in the development and rapid expansion of glacial lakes in the Himalayan region. The increased melting has enhanced the susceptibility for Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) in the region. The catastrophic failure of potentially dangerous glacial lakes could be detrimental to human life and i...

Satellite remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) have revolutionalized the mapping, quantifying, and assessing the land surface processes, particularly analyzing the past and future land use-land cover (LULC) change patterns. Worldwide river basins have observed enormous changes in the land system dynamics as a result of anthropogen...

Citation: Sajan, B.; Mishra, V.N.; Kanga, S.; Meraj, G.; Singh, S.K.; Kumar, P. Cellular Automata-Based Artificial Neural Network Model for Assessing Past, Present, and Future Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics. Agronomy 2022, 12, 2772. https://doi.org/agronomy12112772

Water is one of the most critical resources of nature that sustains life both in natural and artificial ecosystems. The uneven spatiotemporal distribution of water resources is one of the vital factors responsible for various anthropogenic pressures (e.g., pollution) we are facing in the 21st century. Due to our imperfect knowledge about the distri...

Sediment yield from mountainous alpine watersheds of the Himalayas affects food vulnerability, clean drinking water supplies, and reservoir functioning of the region. The sediment retention provided by the natural vegetation in these regions, on the other hand, is of utmost importance, and the cost evaluation of this service in monetary terms is al...

The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is the critical road connection between Kashmir valley and the rest of India. It passes through extremely steep slopes and high mountains prone to mass movements, particularly landslides and rockslides. Most mountainous roads are constructed on fragile and rocky slopes, and any natural (e.g., precipitation) or hu...

Planning for a sustainable future involves understanding the past and present problems associated with urban centers. Rapid urbanization has caused significant adverse impacts on the environment and natural resources. In cities, one such impact is the unsettling urban growth, resulting in the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which causes considerabl...

A common phenomenon associated with alluvial rivers is their meander evolution, eventually forming cutoffs. Point bar deposits and ox-bow lakes are the products of lateral bend migration and meander cutoff. The present study focuses on identifying the meanders of River Manu and their cutoffs. Moreover, this study compares the temporal evolution and...

A common phenomenon associated with alluvial rivers is their meander evolution, eventually forming cutoffs. Point bar deposits and ox-bow lakes are the products of lateral bend migration and meander cutoff. The present study focuses on identifying the meanders of River Manu and their cutoffs. Moreover, this study compares the temporal evolution and...

A common phenomenon associated with alluvial rivers is their meander evolution, eventually forming cutoffs. Point bar deposits and ox-bow lakes are the products of lateral bend migration and meander cutoff. The present study focuses on identifying the meanders of River Manu and their cutoffs. Moreover, this study compares the temporal evolution and...

Globally, estimating crop acreage and yield is one of the most critical issues that policy and decision makers need for assessing annual crop productivity and food supply. Nowadays, satellite remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) can enable the estimation of these crop production parameters over large geographic areas. The present...

Landslides are critical natural disasters characterized by a downward movement of the land masses. As one of the deadliest disasters worldwide, it takes a heavy death toll every year and creates terrible economic damage. The transition between the urban and rural areas is characterized by Highways, which in rugged Himalayan terrains have to be cons...

In this paper, the quality of a source of drinking water is assessed by measuring eight water quality (WQ) parameters using 710 samples collected from a water-stressed region of India, Jodhpur Rajasthan. The entire sample was divided into ten groups representing different geographic locations. Using American Public Health Association (APHA) specifi...

In September 2014, Kashmir witnessed a catastrophic flood resulting in a significant loss of lives and property. Such massive losses could have been avoided if any structural support such as dams were constructed in the Jhelum basin, which has a history of devastating floods. The GIS-based multicriteria analysis (MCA) model provided three suitabili...

Property tax is the primary source of revenue for municipal bodies. In India, municipal corporations are facing issues in property tax collection, and the primary reason for it is a lack of count of assessed properties under its jurisdiction. Also, the storage of information on the properties is mainly based on manual efforts, which leads to data r...

Inhabitants of low-lying islands face increased threats due to climate change as a result of their higher exposure and lesser adaptive capacity. Sagar Island, the largest inhabited estuarine island of Sundarbans, is experiencing severe coastal erosion, frequent cyclones, flooding, storm surges, and breaching of embankments, resulting in land, livel...

Inhabitants of low-lying islands face increased threats due to climate change as a result of their higher exposure and lesser adaptive capacity. Sagar Island, the largest inhabited estuarine island of Sundarbans, is experiencing severe coastal erosion, frequent cyclones, flooding, storm surges, and breaching of embankments, resulting in land, livel...

The paper aims to identify the gaps in the assessment and modeling of ecosystem services to help researchers, resource managers, and decision-makers develop a holistic understanding of the ecosystem service assessments' foundations. This review proposes that to efficiently assess the ecosystem services, methodologies that are region-specific and st...

Population increase has placed ever-increasing demands on the available groundwater (GW) resources, particularly for intensive agricultural activities. In India, groundwater is the backbone of agriculture and drinking purposes. In the present study, an assessment of groundwater reserves was carried out in the Udaipur district, Aravalli range, India...

The Soil & Water Assessment (SWAT) model is a follow-up to almost 30 years of the USDA Agricultural Research Service modeling efforts. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is one of the most widely used eco-hydrological models globally, with over 4000 publications. The Soil & Water Assessment Tool is a comparatively tiny watershed to river wat...

Understanding the science behind the causal factors of natural hazards in the Himalayan region is emerging. Hazards, disasters, associated risk and mitigation, and management strategies are very broad themes in their realms. However, there are multifarious, imperceptive, and intricate aspects related to these themes that are impossible to cover in...

Understanding the science behind the causal factors of natural hazards in the Himalayan region is emerging. Hazards, disasters, associated risk and mitigation, and management strategies are very broad themes in their realms. However, there are multifarious, imperceptive, and intricate aspects related to these themes that are impossible to cover in...

Climate change has drastic impacts on the patterns of precipitation across the world. These changes have greatly affected the mountainous regions where the frequency of disasters have increased rapidly. Flash floods, Glacier Lake outburst floods (GLOF), Snow avalanches, Landslides, and Landslide Lake Outburst floods (LLOF) all are increasing in the...

This chapter discusses the forest fire alert system of India with a special reference to fire vulnerability assessment of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. Using actual forest fire incidences from the Jammu and Kashmir state Forest Department for the period, 2002–2018 and correlating it with the MODIS satellite fire data (2012–2018) a comprehensive fore...

Globally researchers have unraveled unique locations that helped to understand the chronology of the critical events concerning the Earth's past. Among such geological events, the time-shot of the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) extinction event is one of the significant revelations concerning the end and start of life on Earth. Among various geological si...

Landslides are the most destructive geological hazard in the hilly terrain. For systematic landslide mitigation and management, landslide evaluation and hazard zonation is required. One of the best methods to study slope failure is the synergized approach of geological data with geospatial technology. In the Himalayas, a major widespread natural ca...

This is a comprehensive resource that integrates the application of innovative remote sensing techniques and geospatial tools in modeling Earth systems for environmental management beyond customary digitization and mapping practices. It identifies the most suitable approaches for a specific environmental problem, emphasizes the importance of physic...