National flood susceptibility mapping in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Flood hazards play a vital role in land use planning and have profound implications if they are not considered in the early development phases. Detecting the likelihood of flood hazards and estimating their probability and magnitude are complex tasks that require integration of multidisciplinary approaches. In this study, a national flood susceptibility map (NFSM) and a national “flood vulnerability map” (NFVM) were developed for Saudi Arabia. Various data types were used in this study, including geological, topographical, geomorphological, meteorological, and anthropogenic. The “Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)” approach was used to calculate the weight coefficient for the factors and their classes, and the GIS environment was used to produce the final product. The accuracy of the flood susceptibility map was measured based on actual flood data from 70 locations” using the area under the curve method “(AUC)”. The accuracy of the model was 0.933 (93.3%), indicating that it is an excellent model for the national flood susceptibility scale. Finally, flood susceptibility management was discussed, enabling actions in complex and confusing disaster scenarios. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the applicability of these national-scale maps as guidelines and recommends considerations to achieve beneficial outcomes at economic, sociocultural, and environmental multidisciplinary levels.