Effect of catastrophic flood of November 1988 on environment change at Songkhla coast, Thailand
The rainfall season on the east coast of southern Thailand starts from May and November is the peak rainfall month of the year. The men sea level is usually highest in November in a year. These 2 combined effects cause the flood to stay longer along the coast, see Figs 3., even in December 4, 1988 the area inundated by water was still seen, such as Amphoe Pak Phayun. The marshland was under the water around the border of the 3 lakes. After the flood n 30 June 1989, the drainage pattern has been changed in some places, see figs.4.
The circulation in the lakes are very turbid especially during the flood owing to heavy-laden sediment in shallow water. The extensive mudflat at the southern part of Ko Yai seemed to disperse away after the flood. The are of number of islets have been expanded. The morphology has been changed along the border of the lakes and connected inlets owing to the flood.
Conclusion
From only Landsat TM CCT in 3 dates and topographc maps we are able to extract some information of the effects of catastrophic flood on the environmental change on the Songkhla coast. With more field data, remote sensing data and image analysis techniques, we will investigate the environmental change in more detail quantitatively.
