Simulation of Urban Areas Exposed to Hazardous Flash Flooding Scenarios in Hail City

Omar Hamdy (), Mohamed Hssan Hassan Abdelhafez (), Mabrouk Touahmia, Mohammed Alshenaifi, Emad Noaime, Khaled Elkhayat, Mohammed Alghaseb and Ayman Ragab
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Omar Hamdy: Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81542, Egypt
Mohamed Hssan Hassan Abdelhafez: Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81542, Egypt
Mabrouk Touahmia: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Hail 2240, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Alshenaifi: Department of Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Hail 2240, Saudi Arabia
Emad Noaime: Department of Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Hail 2240, Saudi Arabia
Khaled Elkhayat: Department of Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Hail 2240, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Alghaseb: Department of Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Hail 2240, Saudi Arabia
Ayman Ragab: Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81542, Egypt

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-23

Abstract: According to the United Nations (UN), an additional 1.35 billion people will live in cities by 2030. Well-planned measures are essential for reducing the risk of flash floods. Flash floods typically inflict more damage in densely populated areas. The province of Hail encompasses 120,000 square kilometers, or approximately 6% of the total land area of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Due to its innate physiographic and geologic character, Hail city is susceptible to a wide variety of geo-environmental risks such as sand drifts, flash floods, and rock falls. The aim of this work is to evaluate the rate of urban sprawl in the Hail region using remote sensing data and to identify urban areas that would be affected by simulated worst-case flash floods. From 1984 to 2022, the global urbanization rate increased from 467 to 713% in the Hail region. This is a very high rate of expansion, which means that the number of urban areas exposed to the highest level of flood risk is rising every year. With Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA), a wide range of hydrologic scenarios can be simulated. The data sources for the soil type, infiltration, and initial moisture were utilized to create the coverage and index maps. To generate virtual floods, we ran the GSSHA model within the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) program to create the hazard map for flash flooding. This model provides a suitable method based on open access data and remote data that can help planners in developing countries to create the risk analysis for flash flooding.

Keywords: urban area; flash flood; remote sensing; GIS; GSSHA; Landsat; historical event; natural disasters; urban exposure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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