Natural hazards susceptibility mapping in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: An assessment using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS)

Intensive geological fractures and their associated karst features in tropical regions are often associated with unpredictable environmental and geotechnical engineering problems. This requires precise modelling using modern techniques. A 20 m spatial resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM), a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Weighted Spatial Probability Modelling (WSPM) were integrated to predict the occurrence of flooding, landslides, sinkholes and earth subsidence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Five essential thematic layers were extracted using set of automated algorithms and then they were weighted. Layers included were geological fractures, stream network, micro-depressions, slope and lithological contact. All these thematic layers were assigned weights according to their level of contributions to the occurrence of flooding, landslide, sinkholes and earth subsidence. The map demonstrated that areas having very high geohazard susceptibility show an area of 4.155 km² (8%), whereas the areas characterized by low susceptibility for the occurrence of geohazard is approximately 16.394 (31.5%) of total Kuala Lumpur area. The natural hazard probability model was validated by comparing its results with the published landslide locations and geophysical and geotechnical maps of Kuala Lumpur and the comparison showed strong agreement.