Hydrological modelling in the thamirabarani river basin to analyse impacts of climate variability and land use change with ofat approach

Abstract

Water is one of the most significant natural resources found on the earths surface and has a remarkable association with the earths component According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation FAO 2003 the worlds water resources are estimated to be about 43 750 km3 year distributed globally Continentally the largest share of freshwater lies in America which has 45 per cent followed by Asia with 28 per cent Europe with 15 5 per cent and Africa has the least amount with 9 per cent Globally the most abundant water consumed by the agriculture sector 69 then followed by industries newline19 and municipalities 12 Asia is the second largest continent that consumes water for the agriculture sector Among Asian countries India is one of the developing countries where an increase in human population will demand more water for their consumption and food to meet demands towards the agricultural and food production It is also widely acknowledged that climate variability and climate change will influence river flow regimes worldwide Climate change alters the hydrological cycle directly and influences the distribution of precipitation process variations of evaporation transpiration and streamflow in a river basin IPCC 2013 newline newline