Ashraf, Saqib <br/><br/>
Groundwater recharge in the context of climate change and land use/land cover change in lower Ravi River Basin, Pakistan 

 - Pathum Thani, Thailand :  Asian Institute of Technology,  2016 
 - 87 leaves :  ill. (some col.) 
 - Thesis ;  no. WM-16-15 .
 - Asian Institute of Technology.  Thesis ;  no. WM-16-15 .
<br/><br/> A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the  d egree of Master of Engineering in Water Engineering and Management 
<br/><br/>Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2016 
<br/><br/> Groundwater is an essential resource of water for irrigation and household use especially in area  where  surface  water  quality  does  not  fulfill  the  demands.  However,  its  sustainability  is  threatened  by  climate  change  and  Land  cover  change.  Estimation  of  gro undwater  recharge  for  Lower  Ravi  river  basin  in  context  of  climate  change  and  Land  use  change  is  conducted  in  this  research.  Initially  the  trend  analysis  of  historical  climate  was  carried  out  using  RClimdex  software showing that climatic trends are changin g. The generation of future climate parameters  including rainfall and temperature was the next step. Three GCMs and two RCP scenarios were  considered. The historical climate data along with basic inputs were used to develop a calibrated  and validated hydro logical model named SWAT for the study area. The current land cover was  used  to  generate  future  land  cover  in  the  area  using  CA - Markov.  Four  scenarios  namely  Baseline,  Climate  Change,  Land  Cover  change  and  combined  land  cover  and  climate  change  were  develo ped  for  quantification  of  groundwater  recharge  in  the  study  area.  The  annual  temperature is expected to increase by 2.1  0 C and 3.7  0 C respectively for RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5  by 2100. The annual mean precipitation is also expected to increase by 2.45% and 4.47 % for two  RCPs respectively. The groundwater recharge under climate change scenario is going to increase  by  8%  with  a  seasonal  shift.  Major  impacts  on  recharge  were  seen  through  Land  cover  change  which  causes  a  decrease  in  recharge  to  38%.  The  combined  imp acts  of  climate  and  land  use  change  are  reduction  in  recharge  to  about  15%.  Land  cover  change  is  going  to  impact  groundwater recharge more critically than climate change 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Groundwater--Lower Ravi River Basin (Pakistan)<br/>Land use--Lower Ravi River Basin (Pakistan)<br/>Climatic change--Lower Ravi River Basin (Pakistan)