Journal of Spatial Analysis

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Comparison of Results of GIS-Based Multicriteria Decision Analysis and Remote Sensing Indicators in Kahir River Basin, Iran.

Alireza Khosravi¹, Mehdi Azhdary Moghaddam^2*, Seyed Arman Hashemi Monfared³,
 Hamid Nazaripour⁴

1. M.Sc. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
2. Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
3. Associate professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
4.Assistant professor, Department of Physical Geography, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.


Abstract
Flood risk maps and Flood zoning techniques are useful tools to manage this hazard in the catchment and mitigation of flood impacts. In South Baluchestan and Kahir Basin, due to the existence of winter and summer precipitation regimes, the occurrence of flash floods is inevitable due to the establishment of rural communities and settlements in flood-prone areas, the flooding has caused many damages to the region's vulnerable population. In order to zone flood risk and prepare flood risk maps, climatic data, hydrological, land cover, and topography of the basin were prepared from reliable sources and according to scientific studies, 12 variables affecting flood risk in the form of five main components (Hydrology, vegetation, land cover, climate, and topography) were prepared. According to the regional conditions of the basin, using the opinions of experts based on scientific methods, the weight of each variable and component was determined by Analytical Hierarchy Process(AHP). Using two methods of fuzzy overlay, Weighted Overlay, and the Geographical Information System facilities, a map of variables and components was prepared after reclassification and fuzzy membership function with appropriate operators. The results showed that the fuzzy overlay method concerning its dominant logic has a better distinction of flood-prone areas and can help determine flood hazard micro-zonation in the drainage basins like the Kahir basin. By comparing the results from the real data of the January 2020 flood obtained from satellite images. Due to poor infrastructure and high economic, the risk of flooding may be more harmful and widespread in the future.

Keywords: Flood, Fuzzy logic, Weighted overlay, Southern Baluchestan, GIS.
 

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Changes in the hydrological response due to climatic parameters and human induced activities can be derived from indicators based on the analysis of flow duration curves. The purpose of this research is to determine the flood and the low flow parameters using the flow duration curves. The trend detection technique can be used as a useful tool in deterimining the temporal changes of the different hydro-meteorological parameters. The river gauge stations of the Ardabil province were used for the analysis of high and low flow occurrence in this study. The spatial variations of the flood events can be used as a preliminary guideline for the prioritization of the watershed in the vulnerability assessment and management-oriented measures. Also, the assessment of low flow condition is a useful tool in the allocation of environmental flow allocation and utilization of river surface water resources.
Methodology:
In this research, temporal and spatial changes of Q₁₀, Q₅₀, Q₉₀, Q_90/50 and Lane indices in 31 hydrometric stations of Ardabil province during the period from 1993- 2014 were evaluated. The flow duration curve of each river gauge stations was derived. The flow duration curves also were plotted based on the dimensionless flow divided by the mean discharge and the upstream area of each river gauge station. Also, the temporal variations of the of Q₁₀, Q₅₀, Q₉₀, Q_90/50 and Lane indices were analysed using non-parametric Man Kendall trend test. Then the significant level of upward and downward trend directions were determined. In this study, the results of 5 river gauge stations were presented as example based on the the river flow ranges, which includes low, medium and high river flow discharge (Hajahmadkandi, Nanakaran, Shamsabad, Polesoltani, and Booran).
 
Results:
Based on the results, the trend of Q₁₀ (Flood flow index) was significant at the stations located on the main trunk of the Qarehsou river. Meanwhile the Q₅₀ (average flow index) has a significant decreasing trend in most of the studied river gauge stations. In addition, Q₉₀ and Q_90/50 indices have a significant decreasing trend in most stations. In addition, Q₉₀ and Q_90/50 indices had a significant decrease at (p<0.05) regarding the Lane index as a flood related indicator in the Arbabkandi and Dostbeglo stations, which are affected by the dam construction there is a significant decreasing trend.
Conclusion:
I summary, the values of flood flow index in the upstream rivers of the Ardabil province had a increasing trend.

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Introduction
A flood is a natural disaster caused by heavy rainfall, which causes casualties and damage to infrastructure and crops. Trend of floods in the world increasing due to climate change, changing rainfall patterns, rising sea levels in the future, and in addition, population growth and urban development and human settlements near river have caused floods to become a threat to humans. One of the most important and necessary tasks in catchments is to prepare flood risk maps and analyze them. In recent decades, researchers have been using remote sensing techniques and geographic information systems to obtain flood risk maps in an area. Due to the numerous floods that have occurred in the Neka river catchment, it is necessary to conduct a study entitled zoning of flood sensitivity in Neka river catchment for more effective management in this area.

Materials and methods
Study area: Neka river catchment area with an area of ​​1922 Km2 is part of Mazandaran province in terms of political divisions. This basin is between 53º 17´ 54 º44´ east and 36 º 28 ´to 36 º 42´ of north latitude. The highest point of the basin is 3500 m (Shahkuh peak) and the height of the lowest point of the basin in the Ablo station is about 50 m and at the connection to the Caspian Sea is -27 meters. The seven sub-basins of this basin are Laksha, Golord, Burma, Metkazin, Kiasar, Alarez and Sorkh Griyeh. Geologically, the basin is mostly of calcareous and marl formations. In the south and southwest of Neka River, the rock material is mostly clay and calcareous marl, which makes this basin has a high erosion potential
To study the flood zoning of the area using a multi-criteria decision model, 1: 25000 maps of the surveying organization and a digital elevation model with a resolution of 12.5 meters (Alos Palsar) were extracted. In order to study the flood risk in Neka river, 4 criteria of height, distance from the river, land use and slope have been used. In the present study, modeling and preparation of flood risk zoning map in 4 stage including descending valuation, normalization of each class, normalized index weight and integration of criteria has been done by the following linear weighting method. Performing linear weighting operations depends on the weighted average of a number of selected parameters in the opinion of the expert. According to the weight assigned to each criterion based on the expert opinion, each of the criteria was multiplied by the assigned weight and at the end the criteria were added together and the final zoning map was obtained.

Results and Discussion
In this study, using a multi-criteria decision-making system model, a flood risk zoning map in the Neka river catchment was prepared. According to the weight assigned to each criterion based on expert opinion, the final risk probability map has a value between 0.02 to 0.2, which is ultimately divided into 5 classes in terms of flood risk. Value range 0.02 to 0.06 component of very low risk zone, range 0.08 to 0.11 component of low-risk zone, range 0.11 to 0.13 component of medium-risk zone, range 0.13 to 0.16 component of high-risk zone, and finally domain 0.16 to 0.20 components of the area with very high risk potential have been obtained. According to the final divisions in the flood risk zoning map of the catchment area, a safe area means areas where the probability of flooding is very low and close to zero, and in contrast, the area with a high and very high risk potential for flooding has the probability of high-risk floods. According to the final flood risk zoning map, about 982 Km2 (51%) has high and very high vulnerability, as well as about 510 Km2 (26.69%) has medium vulnerability in Neka catchment area.

Conclusion
The results obtained from the model indicates that the highest risk of flooding points are located in the western parts of the Neka catchment area and the end of the catchment area that reach the city of Neka. According to the research findings, the most important factors in increasing the risk of floods were the slope in this area and the distance from the drainage network. According to the results of the model, a large area of ​​the basin is a component of high risk zone, that means the Neka river watershed has a high potential for floods. Evidence and documented reports show that the Neka river Basin has experienced several floods in the last two decades. The major part of the occurrence of floods is due to the natural conditions of the basin, thus it is necessary to reduce flood damage by changing the locations of various land uses based on flood vulnerability maps. Using multi-criteria decision making method can be used to prepare flood risk zoning maps in basins that do not have hydrometric data; It is also a more cost-effective method in terms of time. One of the important issues in the final result of this model is due to the weight of the layers, which should be used by experts, who are familiar with the region and this method and adapt to field evidence.

Keyworlds: Flood, Multi-criteria decision making system(MCDA), Hazard zoning, Nekarod, Natural hazard.



 

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In order to plan, manage and exploit water and land resources, awareness of the spatial variability of resources, as well as understanding the response behavior of the watershed in order to model physical processes, has an identical significant role. Due to its location in arid and semi-arid areas, special climatic and geomorphological conditions, Qom-Roud basin is prone to flash floods. Due to the lack of hydrometric and topographical data with high accuracy in the basin, the use of hydraulic models does not lead to accurate results of the hydraulic characteristics of floods. In such a situation, the methods based on the geomorphological features of the basin can be advantageous. In this article, Variable flood stage method (VFS) method is used, which combines the hydraulic characteristics of the river with the geomorphic characteristics of the basin in order to estimate the water depth in the river caused by floods with different return periods. The water depth was investigated for different return periods of two, five, ten, twenty-five, fifty and hundred years. In each period, the highest water depth was in the parts near the outlet and the lowest water depth was in the upstream parts of the river. The research illustrations there is a direct relationship between the depth of water and the area of the sub-basin. The results of this research can be used for basins without hydrometric and topographic statistics with high accuracy in order to estimate the peak speed and flood depth.