TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk Assessment and Mapping of Flash Flood Vulnerable Zones in Arid Region, Fujairah City, UAE-Using Remote Sensing and GIS-Based Analysis
AU - Subraelu, P.
AU - Ahmed, Alaa
AU - Ebraheem, Abdel Azim
AU - Sherif, Mohsen
AU - Mirza, Shaher Bano
AU - Ridouane, Fouad Lamghari
AU - Sefelnasr, Ahmed
N1 - Funding Information:
The National Water and Energy Center of the United Arab Emirates University has supported this research. The authors thank the journal’s editorial board and reviewers for their professional assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - A flash flood is the most common natural hazard that endangers people’s lives, the economy, and infrastructure. Watershed management and planning are essential for reducing flood damages, particularly in residential areas, and mapping flash flood-sensitive zones. Flash flooding is an interface dynamic between geoterrain system factors such as geology, geomorphology, soil, drainage density, slope, and flood, rather than only water movement from higher to lower elevation. Consequently, the vulnerability to flash floods necessitates an awareness of and mapping topographical features. A flash flood vulnerable zones (FFVZ) map is essential for thorough flash flood risk assessment and management to minimize its detrimental effects, particularly in residential areas, especially in cities like Fujairah with seven wadis flowing into the city and even though it has two main dams and fifteen breaker dams. So, in this work, eight satellite image-derived parameters rainfall, elevation, slope, land use/land cover (LULC), drainage density, geology, geomorphology, and soil were combined to predict the flash flood-vulnerable zones using a weighted overlay technique based on geographic information systems (GIS). Each element of the thematic maps is ranked and weighted according to how vulnerable it is to flash floods in the study area, with 55 km2 being classified as a very highly vulnerable area, 78 km2 as a high-risk area, 9.3 km2 as a moderate risk area, 70 km2 as a low vulnerable area, and 257 km2 as a very low vulnerable area. In addition, places with a very high vulnerability level include the Fujairah Airport, Fujairah Port, some residential neighborhoods in the city’s center, oil storage areas, two hospitals, and universities. Additionally, from 1990 to the present, Landsat and Sentinel 2 data showed consistent changes in vegetation and built-up areas. Therefore, in addition to helping policy and decision-makers make the best choices about the efficacy of the study area’s protective structures against the risk of flash floods in the future, the results can also be a valuable source of information.
AB - A flash flood is the most common natural hazard that endangers people’s lives, the economy, and infrastructure. Watershed management and planning are essential for reducing flood damages, particularly in residential areas, and mapping flash flood-sensitive zones. Flash flooding is an interface dynamic between geoterrain system factors such as geology, geomorphology, soil, drainage density, slope, and flood, rather than only water movement from higher to lower elevation. Consequently, the vulnerability to flash floods necessitates an awareness of and mapping topographical features. A flash flood vulnerable zones (FFVZ) map is essential for thorough flash flood risk assessment and management to minimize its detrimental effects, particularly in residential areas, especially in cities like Fujairah with seven wadis flowing into the city and even though it has two main dams and fifteen breaker dams. So, in this work, eight satellite image-derived parameters rainfall, elevation, slope, land use/land cover (LULC), drainage density, geology, geomorphology, and soil were combined to predict the flash flood-vulnerable zones using a weighted overlay technique based on geographic information systems (GIS). Each element of the thematic maps is ranked and weighted according to how vulnerable it is to flash floods in the study area, with 55 km2 being classified as a very highly vulnerable area, 78 km2 as a high-risk area, 9.3 km2 as a moderate risk area, 70 km2 as a low vulnerable area, and 257 km2 as a very low vulnerable area. In addition, places with a very high vulnerability level include the Fujairah Airport, Fujairah Port, some residential neighborhoods in the city’s center, oil storage areas, two hospitals, and universities. Additionally, from 1990 to the present, Landsat and Sentinel 2 data showed consistent changes in vegetation and built-up areas. Therefore, in addition to helping policy and decision-makers make the best choices about the efficacy of the study area’s protective structures against the risk of flash floods in the future, the results can also be a valuable source of information.
KW - flash flood mapping
KW - Geo-spatial analysis
KW - GIS
KW - remote sensing
KW - vulnerable zones
KW - weighted overlay analysis
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U2 - 10.3390/w15152802
DO - 10.3390/w15152802
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85167661655
SN - 2073-4441
VL - 15
JO - Water (Switzerland)
JF - Water (Switzerland)
IS - 15
M1 - 2802
ER -
