Remote Sensing and GIS Applications in Environmental Sciences
Investigating the potential of flood risk in the Kerman watershed
Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Associat Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
2 Associat Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.
3 MSc Student of Natural Hazard. Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. Kerman, Iran.
Abstract
Objective: Nowadays, due to climate change, the flood problem is one of the most important problems in arid and semi-arid regions. Kerman Plain is one of these regions that has suffered extensive damage in infrastructure and agriculture. The purpose of this research is to analyze the flooding of the Kerman watershed and to zone the flood risk using radar data processing and fuzzy techniques.
Methods: In this regard, eight factors were used: cumulative flow, discharge capacity, distance from the watercourse, runoff rate, land cover, land elevation, slope and geology. Pairwise comparison matrices for the aforementioned factors were prepared using the fuzzy-hierarchical method, weighted and integrated in GIS. Then, a flood risk map was drawn using the flood risk index.
Results: The results showed that about 16 percent of the study area is at very high risk (81,184 hectares), 22 percent at high risk (111,628 hectares), 35 percent at medium risk (177,590 hectares), 18 percent at low risk (91,332 hectares) and 9 percent at very low risk (45,666 hectares). The results showed that in addition to agricultural gardens, many residential areas are at risk of flooding. In addition, By processing radar images, the flood that occurred on August 8, 1401 in the study area was mapped and used to validate the flood hazard map.
Conclusions: the present study shows that many areas of the Kerman Plain are at high flood risk and should be specifically considered..
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