Comprehensive analysis of coastal flood susceptibility, drought severity, and crop water stress using data fusion

This study examines environmental susceptibilities in coastal regions by integrating geospatial indices to evaluate flood susceptibility, drought severity, and crop water stress. A data fusion framework was developed using the composite coastal flood susceptibility index (CCFSI), composite drought index (CDI), and crop water stress index (CWSI), validated against 70 ground truth points. The analysis revealed that the “Very Low Flood” covered the largest area of 131,244 hectares, while the “Very High Flood” occupied 277.04 hectares. In drought severity, the “Very High Drought” dominated with 122,306 hectares, whereas the “Low Drought” spanned just 1.56 hectares. For crop water stress, the “Very Low CWSI” encompassed 93,116.8 hectares, and the “Very High CWSI” covered 10,791.9 hectares, highlighting the variations in susceptibility across regions. Validation metrics showed high reliability, with F1 scores of 0.91 for flood prediction and 0.92 for drought prediction. The composite maps highlighted key susceptibilities, with the “High Flood-High Drought” covering 3471.35 hectares, the “High Drought-High CWSI” spanning 13,162.60 hectares, and the “High Flood-High CWSI” limited to 12.51 hectares, emphasizing the areas most affected by combined environmental stressors. The proposed framework is scalable, adaptable, and provides valuable tools for policymakers to enhance climate resilience and sustainable resource management globally.