Multi-criteria analysis and geospatial applications-based mapping flood vulnerable areas: a case study from the eastern Mediterranean

Hazem Ghassan Abdo (), Taorui Zeng (), Mohammed J. Alshayeb (), Pankaj Prasad (), Mohamed Fatahalla Mohamed Ahmed (), Jasem A. Albanai (), Maged Muteb Alharbi () and Javed Mallick ()
Additional contact information
Hazem Ghassan Abdo: Tartous University
Taorui Zeng: Chongqing Jiaotong University
Mohammed J. Alshayeb: King Khalid University
Pankaj Prasad: Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya
Mohamed Fatahalla Mohamed Ahmed: University of Hail
Jasem A. Albanai: University of Oxford
Maged Muteb Alharbi: Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Saudi Irrigation Organization
Javed Mallick: King Khalid University

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2025, vol. 121, issue 1, No 37, 1003-1031

Abstract: Abstract Floods are considered one of the most common natural hazards in the Eastern Mediterranean. In western Syria, floods annually cause dozens of casualties with massive destruction of infrastructure and agricultural land. Moreover, the consequences of the war in Syria increased the amount of losses due to the complete absence of administration components at the regional and administrative level. Flood susceptibility mapping represents a crucial basis for creating flood management and mitigation strategies. The current investigation aimed to delineate a flood susceptibility map in the Baluta river basin, western Syria, using the integration of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach and the Geographical Information System environment. To achieve this goal, nine factors affecting the flood occurens were selected, namely: rainfall, elevation, slope, Topographic Wetness Index, drainage density, distance from the river, soil resistance, Land Use/Land Cover and lithology. Additionally, the spatial distribution of 162 flood events was determined as a validation dataset for the accuracy assessment process, which was carried out using the Area Under the Curve (AUC). The results indicate that more than 28% of the area of the study area is considered high and very high flooding hazard. These areas are located in the central and northwestern parts of the study area along the river courses. These areas are formed by floodplains that are characterized by a high frequency of flood events annually. The AUC value of 0.88% indicates the flood susceptibility map’s reliable and objective predictive ability produced using AHP. Overall, the approach applied in this evaluation represents a constructive tool for land use planners and policymakers to create spatial management strategies for flood risk in the environmental rehabilitation phase in Syria.

Keywords: Multi-criteria analysis; Mapping flood vulnerable; Risk assessment; Eastern Mediterranean; Syria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-024-06864-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:nathaz:v:121:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-024-06864-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11069

DOI: 10.1007/s11069-024-06864-y

Access Statistics for this article

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards is currently edited by Thomas Glade, Tad S. Murty and Vladimír Schenk

More articles in Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards from Springer, International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().