Flood Susceptibility Mapping Using Watershed Geomorphic Data in the Onkaparinga Basin, South Australia

Alaa Ahmed (), Abdullah Alrajhi, Abdulaziz Alquwaizany, Ali Al Maliki and Guna Hewa
Additional contact information
Alaa Ahmed: Geosciences Department, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ai 15551, United Arab Emirates
Abdullah Alrajhi: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, King Abdullah Road, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz Alquwaizany: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, King Abdullah Road, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
Ali Al Maliki: Environment and Water Directorate, Ministry of Science and Technology, Baghdad 765, Iraq
Guna Hewa: Centre for Scarce Resources and Circular Economy (ScaRCE), UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-23

Abstract: In the near future, natural disasters and associated risks are expected to increase, mainly because of the impact of climate change. Australia is considered one of the most vulnerable areas for natural disasters, including flooding. Therefore, an evaluation of the morphometric characteristics of the Onkaparinga basin in South Australia was undertaken using the integration of remote sensing and geospatial techniques to identify its impact on flash floods. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and Landsat images with other available geologic, topographic, and secondary data were analysed in geographic information system (GIS) to outline the drainage basins, estimate the morphometric parameters, and rank the parameters to demarcate the flash flood susceptibility zones of the basin. The main goal was to develop a flash flood susceptibility map showing the different hazard zones within the study areas. The results showed that 10.87%, 24.27%, and 64.85% are classified as low, moderate, and highly susceptible for flooding, respectively. These findings were then verified against secondary data relating to the historic flood events of the area. About 30.77% of the historical floods are found located within the high to extremely susceptible zones. Moreover, a significant correlation has been found between the high precipitation concentration index (PCI) and the irregular rainfall and high potential for flooding. Finally, the social and economic vulnerability was applied to determine the impact of the flood hazards. The result indicates a widespread threat to the economy, environment, and community in the study area. This study can be utilized to support and assist decision makers with planning and the devotion of alleviation measures to reducing and avoiding catastrophic flooding events, especially in highly susceptible areas in the world, such as South Australian basins.

Keywords: flood; susceptibility; morphometric analysis; GIS; Onkaparinga; South Australia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/16270/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/16270/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:16270-:d:994811

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().