Planform Change and Its Delayed Response to Discharge in an Active Braided River Reach: Majuli Island Reach of the Brahmaputra River
As the threat of unstable braided river geomorphology to the resilience of local communities grows, a better understanding of the morphological changes in a river subject to climate is essential. However, little research has focused on the long-term planform change of the braided reaches and its res...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/6/944 |
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| author | Qiange Xue Li He Qiuhong Tang Ximeng Xu Dong Chen Nigel G. Wright G. M. Tarekul Islam Binod Baniya A. K. M. Saiful Islam Ahmed Ishtiaque Amin Chowdhury Yaoying Tang |
| author_facet | Qiange Xue Li He Qiuhong Tang Ximeng Xu Dong Chen Nigel G. Wright G. M. Tarekul Islam Binod Baniya A. K. M. Saiful Islam Ahmed Ishtiaque Amin Chowdhury Yaoying Tang |
| author_sort | Qiange Xue |
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| description | As the threat of unstable braided river geomorphology to the resilience of local communities grows, a better understanding of the morphological changes in a river subject to climate is essential. However, little research has focused on the long-term planform change of the braided reaches and its response to hydrological changes. The reach around Majuli Island (Majuli Reach), the first and typical braided reach of the Brahmaputra River emerging from the gorge, experiences intense geomorphological change of the channels and loss of riparian area every year due to the seasonal hydrological variability. Therefore, focusing on the Majuli Reach, we quantitatively investigate changes in its planform morphology from 1990 to 2020 using remote sensing images from the Landsat dataset and analyze the influence of discharge in previous years on channel braiding. The study shows that the Majuli Reach is characterized by a high braiding degree with an average Modified Plan Form Index (MPFI) of 4.39, an average reach width of 5.58 km, and the development of densely migrating bars and active braided channels. Analysis shows a control point near Borboka Pathar with little morphological change, and the braided channel shows contrasting morphological changes in the braiding degree, bars, and main channel between the reach upstream and downstream of it. The area of the riparian zone of the Majuli Reach decreased by more than 50 km<sup>2</sup> during the study period due to migration of the main channel toward the island. The braiding degree of Majuli Reach is positively correlated with the discharge in previous years, with the delayed response time of the MPFI to discharge being just 3–4 years, indicating the unstable feature of the Majuli Reach with varied hydrology conditions. |
| format | Article |
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| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-29695017c19a49faa48b3a394fbbc4ec2025-08-20T01:48:46ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-03-0117694410.3390/rs17060944Planform Change and Its Delayed Response to Discharge in an Active Braided River Reach: Majuli Island Reach of the Brahmaputra RiverQiange Xue0Li He1Qiuhong Tang2Ximeng Xu3Dong Chen4Nigel G. Wright5G. M. Tarekul Islam6Binod Baniya7A. K. M. Saiful Islam8Ahmed Ishtiaque Amin Chowdhury9Yaoying Tang10Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaSchool of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKInstitute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaInstitute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshInstitute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshInternational Economic and Technical Cooperation and Exchange Center, Ministry of Water Resources, Beijing 100038, ChinaAs the threat of unstable braided river geomorphology to the resilience of local communities grows, a better understanding of the morphological changes in a river subject to climate is essential. However, little research has focused on the long-term planform change of the braided reaches and its response to hydrological changes. The reach around Majuli Island (Majuli Reach), the first and typical braided reach of the Brahmaputra River emerging from the gorge, experiences intense geomorphological change of the channels and loss of riparian area every year due to the seasonal hydrological variability. Therefore, focusing on the Majuli Reach, we quantitatively investigate changes in its planform morphology from 1990 to 2020 using remote sensing images from the Landsat dataset and analyze the influence of discharge in previous years on channel braiding. The study shows that the Majuli Reach is characterized by a high braiding degree with an average Modified Plan Form Index (MPFI) of 4.39, an average reach width of 5.58 km, and the development of densely migrating bars and active braided channels. Analysis shows a control point near Borboka Pathar with little morphological change, and the braided channel shows contrasting morphological changes in the braiding degree, bars, and main channel between the reach upstream and downstream of it. The area of the riparian zone of the Majuli Reach decreased by more than 50 km<sup>2</sup> during the study period due to migration of the main channel toward the island. The braiding degree of Majuli Reach is positively correlated with the discharge in previous years, with the delayed response time of the MPFI to discharge being just 3–4 years, indicating the unstable feature of the Majuli Reach with varied hydrology conditions.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/6/944braided rivermorphological changeModified Plan Form Indexdelayed responseLandsat data |
| spellingShingle | Qiange Xue Li He Qiuhong Tang Ximeng Xu Dong Chen Nigel G. Wright G. M. Tarekul Islam Binod Baniya A. K. M. Saiful Islam Ahmed Ishtiaque Amin Chowdhury Yaoying Tang Planform Change and Its Delayed Response to Discharge in an Active Braided River Reach: Majuli Island Reach of the Brahmaputra River Remote Sensing braided river morphological change Modified Plan Form Index delayed response Landsat data |
| title | Planform Change and Its Delayed Response to Discharge in an Active Braided River Reach: Majuli Island Reach of the Brahmaputra River |
| title_full | Planform Change and Its Delayed Response to Discharge in an Active Braided River Reach: Majuli Island Reach of the Brahmaputra River |
| title_fullStr | Planform Change and Its Delayed Response to Discharge in an Active Braided River Reach: Majuli Island Reach of the Brahmaputra River |
| title_full_unstemmed | Planform Change and Its Delayed Response to Discharge in an Active Braided River Reach: Majuli Island Reach of the Brahmaputra River |
| title_short | Planform Change and Its Delayed Response to Discharge in an Active Braided River Reach: Majuli Island Reach of the Brahmaputra River |
| title_sort | planform change and its delayed response to discharge in an active braided river reach majuli island reach of the brahmaputra river |
| topic | braided river morphological change Modified Plan Form Index delayed response Landsat data |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/6/944 |
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