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Arid Land Geography ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (8): 1314-1326.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2023.404

• The Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatial and temporal distribution of flood disasters and characteristics of disaster-prone environment in Ili River Basin in recent 30 years

Gulzar MOMIN1,2(), YANG Lianmei2(), LIU Yan2, LI Xinguo1   

  1. 1. College of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830000, Xinjiang, China
    2. Urumqi Desert Meteorology Institute, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2023-08-05 Revised:2023-10-07 Online:2024-08-25 Published:2024-09-02
  • Contact: YANG Lianmei E-mail:gz2233711745@163.com;yanglm@idm.cn

Abstract:

Based on the flood disaster data set of the Ili River Basin from 1990 to 2022, this study combined with disaster-prone environment factors, such as elevation and normalized vegetation index, to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of flood disasters and the characteristics of disaster-prone environment in the Ili River Basin. This study analyzes the relationship between the occurrence rule of flood disasters and the disaster-prone environment. The results reveal the following: (1) Flood disasters in the study area can be categorized into three types: rainstorm, snowmelt, and mixed floods (caused by rainstorm and snowmelt floods), with rainstorm flood being the most prevalent (80.0%) and snowmelt flood the least (3.4%). The spatial distribution of flood disasters is greater in the north than in the south, greater in the east than in the west, with Nilke County experiencing the most and Khorgas City the least. (2) Over the past 30 years, the frequency of flood disasters has shown a substantial interannual and interdecadal increasing trend, with an average annual occurrence of about 11.6·a-1. The highest occurrence was in 2010 (43), and the highest period was from 2000 to 2011 (149). Flood disasters were most frequent in summer, followed by spring, and least frequent in autumn. They were most frequent in June (annual mean 3.3 times·a-1) and least frequent in October (annual mean 0.06 times·a-1). Rainstorm flood disasters were most frequent in summer (annual mean 9.3 times·a-1), most frequent in June (110 times), and least frequent in October (2 times). Mixed flood disasters were more frequent in spring and less frequent in summer, with the most in March (36 times) and at the least in July (8 times), with an average annual rate of 1.9 times·a-1; snowmelt flood was most frequent in March (12 times), only occurring in spring, with an average annual rate of 0.4 times·a-1. (3) The comprehensive distribution of disaster-prone environment sensitivity levels shows that all disaster-prone factors work together to affect the spatial distribution and intensity of flood disasters. More extremely sensitive areas exist in Nilka, Tekes, Xinyuan, Zhaosu Counties and Khorgas City. Based on the spatial and temporal distribution of flood disasters and the comprehensive distribution of the disaster-prone environment, flood disasters mostly occur in the eastern and northern parts of the basin, where the extremely and highly sensitive areas are distributed.

Key words: Ili River Basin, flood disaster, spatiotemporal distribution, disaster-prone environment