Mapping of Groundwater, Flood, and Drought Potential Zones in Neom, Saudi Arabia, Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques

Abstract

Neom is expected to face climate and environmental challenges, including the provision of water and the mitigation of flood and drought risks. The field data for identifying the potential risk zones are limited. I utilized remote sensing data and geographic information system (GIS) techniques to identify such zones. The datasets used here included drainage density, lineament density, precipitation, elevation, lithology, slope, soil, and land use/land cover. These data were analyzed using a weighted overlay analysis in a GIS environment. The analysis successfully mapped the potential groundwater, flood, and drought zones in Neom. The zone with a good potential for groundwater covered 515 km2 of Neom, whereas 11,562, 10,616, and 289 km2 of land had a moderate, poor, and very poor chance of having groundwater, respectively. The area with the lowest flood danger covered only 195 km2, whereas the areas with a low, moderate, and high flooding risk covered 4355, 13,542, and 4910 km2 of land, respectively. The results of the overlay analysis showed that low and very low drought risks were associated with 4322 and 44 km2 of land, respectively. In turn, 10,615 and 8266 km2 of the region were at a moderate and high drought risk, respectively.