Academic joins international study into monsoon flooding

Hull University professor Dan Parsons is taking part in Stelar-S2S, which aims to determine how climate and river processes affect the movement of sand, silt and mud through large river systems to their deltas and coastlines.

This will establish how monsoon floods affect people living around river “mega-deltas”.

Prof Parsons, from the university’s geography, environment and earth science department, will lead on fieldwork elements of the project, which will be based on the Mekong and its large river delta.

The team, led by Professor Steve Darby at Southampton University, will focus on identifying how different types of floods control the extent to which processes such as river bank erosion and overbank sedimentation during large floods.

The Mekong delta is one of the world’s most populous and vulnerable deltas, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimating that more than one million inhabitants could be displaced by sea-level rise by 2050.

This means the results of the project will have far-reaching consequences for those living in and around the region.

The work will involve long field campaigns during the monsoon floods between June and September of next year, enabling the team to witness the incredible movements of mud, silt and other debris in its most pressing context. It is anticipated that the data gathered will enable the team to form predictions of future sediment dynamics and its impact.

This will in turn provide information into the study of the global weather phenomenon known as El Niño.

Prof Parsons, who was recently awarded the Chandler-Misener Award by the International Association for Great Lakes Research, said: “Being able to predict how climate change, along with the impacts of planned damming of the upper Mekong River, will affect the amount of sediment reaching the delta is vital in predicting how quickly the delta will be submerged during anticipated sea-level rise.

“The project will offer predictions that will help regional agencies plan and mitigate this threat.”

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