GIS evaluation of urban growth and flood hazards: a case study of Makkah City, Saudi Arabia
K Al-Ghamdi, M Mirza, R Elzahrany, G Dawod
Journal The International FIG Working Week - 2012/5 - P P 6 - 10
SUMMARY:
Four-dimensional Geographic Information System (4D GIS) furnishes a noteworthy technical tool for precisely mapping 3D-space growth of urban municipality over time. It can be augmented to estimate flood hazardous impacts due to urban sprawl. In the current study, a 4D GIS has been developed to analyze and quantify both urban growth and flood hazard changes in Makkah city, Saudi Arabia, over the last twenty years. It has been found that the urban growth in 1990 took the north-east and south-west directions, while it took the northwest and south-east directions in 2010. Additionally, investigating the city topography reveals that the urban sprawl mostly exist in low- and moderate-elevation regions. Attained results showed, also, that the residential regions of Makkah city have been increased by 197%, while the total flood volumes have been enlarged by 248%. This is due to two factors: (1) establishment of new residential areas in regions that already posse high flood impacts; and (2) building up new suburban areas on sediment soil that significantly decreases the permeability of the soil and, thus, leads to a crucial increase in hazardous water surface runoff. It is concluded that the utilization of GIS in urban growth and flood hazard estimation studies is quit powerful and provides a successful technical tool that helps in analyzing and understanding such phenomena. It is recommended that the achieved findings should be taken into account by decision-makers in development planning and resources management policies for Makkah metropolitan area.
Keywords: GIS, Spatial analysis, Urban growth, Flood hazards, Rainfall-Runoff, Saudi Arabia.
OR
OR
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق