Thematic and Bibliometric Review of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System-Based Flood Disaster Studies in South Asia During 2004–2024

Floods have catastrophic effects worldwide, particularly in monsoonal Asia. This
systematic review investigates the literature from the past two decades, focusing on the
use of remote sensing (RS), Geographic Information Systems (GISs), and technologies for
flood disaster management in South Asia, and addresses the urgent need for effective
strategies in the face of escalating flood disasters. This study emphasizes the importance of
tailored GIS- and RS-based flood disaster studies inspired by diverse research, particularly
in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and the Maldives.
Our dataset comprises 94 research articles from Google Scholar, Scopus, and ScienceDirect.
The analysis revealed an upward trend after 2014, with a peak in 2023 for publications on
flood-related topics, primarily within the scope of RS and GIS, flood-risk monitoring, and
flood-risk assessment. Keyword analysis using VOSviewer revealed that out of 6402, the
most used keyword was “climate change”, with 360 occurrences. Bibliometric analysis
shows that 1104 authors from 52 countries meet the five minimum document requirements.
Indian and Pakistani researchers published the most number of papers, whereas Elsevier,
Springer, and MDPI were the three largest publishers. Thematic analysis has identified
several major research areas, including flood risk assessment, flood monitoring, early
flood warning, RS and GIS, hydrological modeling, and urban planning. RS and GIS
technologies have been shown to have transformative effects on early detection, accurate
mapping, vulnerability assessment, decision support, community engagement, and crossborder
collaboration. Future research directions include integrating advanced technologies,
fine-tuning spatial resolution, multisensor data fusion, social–environmental integration,
climate change adaptation strategies, community-centric early warning systems, policy
integration, ethics and privacy protocols, and capacity-building initiatives. This systematic
review provides extensive knowledge and offers valuable insights to help researchers,
policymakers, practitioners, and communities address the intricate problems of flood
management in the dynamic landscapes of South Asia.