GIS-based multi-criteria analysis for flood prone areas mapping in the trans-boundary Shatt Al-Arab basin, Iraq-Iran

Abstract

Severe flood events in the trans-boundary Shatt Al-Arab basin (Iraq-Iran) claim hundreds of human lives and cause damage to the economy and environment. Therefore, developing a flood hazard model to recognize the basin’s susceptible areas to flooding is important for decision makers for comprehensive flood risk management. The flood hazard map was prepared using geographical information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) along with the application of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method to identify the optimal selection of weights for the factors that contribute to flood risk. The flooding causative factors used in this study were rainfall, distance to the river, digital elevation model (DEM), slope, land use/land cover (LULC), drainage density, soils, and lithology. The derived flood hazard map consisted of four distinct categories (zones). These zones that depict high, intermediate, low, and very low flood hazard cover around 20%, 40%, 39%, and 2% of the basin area, respectively. The produced flood hazard map was further verified using a historical flood event in the study area. The results were found to be consistent with the historical data of flood events, revealing the model’s effectiveness in the realistic representation of flood hazard mapping.