Abstract
The aim of this study was to identify the areas with different levels of riverine flood potential (RFP) in the Nitra river basin, Slovakia, using multi-criteria evaluation (MCE)-analytical hierarchical process (AHP), geographic information systems (GIS), and seven flood conditioning factors. The RFP in the Nitra river basin had not yet been assessed through MCE-AHP. Therefore, the methodology used can be useful, especially in terms of the preliminary flood risk assessment required by the EU Floods Directive. The results showed that classification techniques of natural breaks (Jenks), equal interval, quantile, and geometric interval classified 32.03%, 29.90%, 41.84%, and 53.52% of the basin, respectively, into high and very high RFP while 87.38%, 87.38%, 96.21%, and 98.73% of flood validation events, respectively, corresponded to high and very high RFP. A single-parameter sensitivity analysis of factor weights was performed in order to derive the effective weights, which were used to calculate the revised riverine flood potential (RRFP). In general, the differences between the RFP and RRFP can be interpreted as an underestimation of the share of high and very high RFP as well as the share of flood events in these classes within the RFP assessment. Therefore, the RRFP is recommended for the assessment of riverine flood potential in the Nitra river basin.
Highlights
In recent decades, the frequency and magnitude of floods as well as flood damage have been increasing, which is mainly caused by the impacts of various human activities [1,2].On the other hand, the vulnerability of society to floods is being influenced mainly by population growth and related economic activities
In the EU, the importance of flood potential mapping is indirectly incorporated into the preliminary flood risk assessment (EU Floods Directive 2007/60/EC [3]), which is legally binding for all member countries and should be updated and revised in six-year cycles starting from 2011
This study aims to identify areas with different riverine flood potential using GISbased spatial and multi-criteria evaluation, namely the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) technique, at regional spatial scale represented by the Nitra river basin, Slovakia
Summary
The vulnerability of society to floods is being influenced mainly by population growth and related economic activities. In the EU, the importance of flood potential mapping is indirectly incorporated into the preliminary flood risk assessment (EU Floods Directive 2007/60/EC [3]), which is legally binding for all member countries and should be updated and revised in six-year cycles starting from 2011. The objective of the preliminary flood risk assessment is to identify areas with potentially significant flood risk or where floods are likely to occur. While in the first cycle (2011) no flood potential mapping procedure was taken into account, in the cycle (2018), the work by Minár et al [6] was incorporated into assessments
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