Final Project Proposal

My final project will focus on an elementary geographic analysis of the Ethiopia’s decision to site new dams along the Blue Nile. The analysis will consist of using one dam as a test case to identify what geographic area will experience hydrological impacts, along with attempting to sum the potential affected population. I currently have a global drainage basin data set, DEMs and limited “populated places” data. I would like to find more detailed population data that I can overlay by water drainage basin. I am also looking for more detailed hydrology data or images that better help represent surface water flow and area.

To begin I will find the best approximate location for a proposed dam to correctly site the dam location with respect to hydrology data. Following that I will use basic spatial analysis to select the downstream impacted hydrologic basins and correlate these areas to the best available population data. This will provide a minimum area and population affected by a dam construction. If possible I would like to further extend this analysis using a DEM data set to explore more detailed hydrologic implications, for example, an estimate of what area will be flooded, and if possible what land type is affected and the possible social implications of this.

map source: http://danielberhane.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/leaked-map-of-ethiopias-4-new-dams-on-nile/