Standardized Water-Level Index (SWI)

Standardized Water-Level Index (SWI) 

 

Index name: Standardized Water-Level Index (SWI).

Ease of use: Yellow.

Origins: Developed by Bhuiyan at the Indian Institute of Technology, India, as a way to assess groundwater recharge deficits.

Characteristics: As a hydrology-based drought indicator, it uses data from wells to investigate the impact of drought on groundwater recharge. Results can be interpolated between points.

Input parameters: Groundwater well levels.

Applications: For areas with frequent seasonal low flows on main rivers and streams.

Strengths: The impact of drought on groundwater is a key component in agricultural and municipal water supplies.

Weaknesses: Only takes groundwater into account, and interpolation between points may not be representative of the region or climate regime.

References: Bhuiyan, C., 2004: Various Drought Indices for Monitoring Drought Condition in Aravalli Terrain of India. ISPRS Archives – Volume XXXV Part B7, 2004, XXth ISPRS Congress, Technical Commission VII, July 12-23, 2004, Istanbul, Turkey (O. Altan, ed.). International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 1283-1288.

15 Responses

    1. Dear Vikesh, Thanks a lot for your request. The SWI cannot be used to calculate river level but is based on groundwater level measured in wells. This is of course related to river levels in the are of the groundwater aquifer but no direct indication. River level is usually measured directly. Please let us know if you need further information.

      Best regards,
      IDMP Team

  1. Dear Chidambaram

    Please see the extract below from the article on the SWI index website:
    SWI has been developed to scale the ground water recharge deficit. The SWI expression stands as
    SWI = (Wij −Wim)/σ
    where Wij is the seasonal water level for the ith well and jth observation, Wim its seasonal mean, and σ is its standard deviation.

    The SWI index webpage is https://www.droughtmanagement.info/standardized-water-level-index-swi/

    And the Article can be found at:
    https://www.droughtmanagement.info/literature/ISPRS_Various_Drought_Indices_Monitoring_Drought_Condition_Aravalli_Terrain_India_2004.pdf

    You might also find the following case study interesting: https://www.preventionweb.net/files/65843_f214dhawalecrisismanagementtoriskma.pdf

    Best regards,
    IDMP Team

  2. Sir iam a cs student , iam not able to understand how to calculate SWI can u please show a sample calculation with respective data set

  3. I am a beginner in Hydrology. Can you please let me know the steps to use my groundwater level data to calculate SWI. Please explain SWI in basic level

  4. Hello sir, this is Aarthi and i am a student of anna university,chennai , doing BE(geo-informatics). your reference article is very much helpful for my final year project idea. But , I have one doubt that ” How to calculate SWI? and which software is used to calculate SWI index?….. please , i request you to clarify my doubts. It’ll be very much helpful for me. please concern my request.

    1. Dear Aarti,

      Please see the extract below from the article on the SWI index website:
      SWI has been developed to scale the ground water recharge deficit. The SWI expression stands as
      SWI = (Wij −Wim)/σ

      where Wij is the seasonal water level for the ith well and jth observation, Wim its seasonal mean, and σ is its standard deviation.

      The SWI index webpage is https://www.droughtmanagement.info/standardized-water-level-index-swi/

      And the Article can be found at:
      https://www.droughtmanagement.info/literature/ISPRS_Various_Drought_Indices_Monitoring_Drought_Condition_Aravalli_Terrain_India_2004.pdf

      IDMP Team

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