Application of AHP with GIS in drought risk assessment for Puruliya district, India

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in combination with geographic information system (GIS) provides an effective means for disaster monitoring. In the present study, GIS was used for the spatial analysis of drought for the Puruliya district, West Bengal, India. Fourteen parameters, such as annual rainfall, monthly rainfall, maximum temperature, monthly temperature, maximum evapotranspiration, monthly evapotranspiration, relative humidity, soil texture, landuse/landcover, slope, groundwater, cultivators, agricultural labourers and population were chosen and thematic maps for each parameter were developed. AHP was adopted to develop pairwise comparison matrices and to calculate the weightage factors of each parameter. Fourteen thematic maps were analysed, integrated and finally drought severity map was generated using GIS. The results showed that 70 % of the total area of Puruliya district is under severe drought affecting about 14 blocks. The output map thus obtained will provide information on severity of drought vulnerability which has practical relevance to agricultural importance and help in combating drought.