Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluating flood risk management practices and vulnerability mapping in Alawuha watershed (North Wollo Zone, Ethiopia) using GIS and remote sensing

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Applied Geomatics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The current magnitude of flooding in Ethiopia is unprecedented. It is a typical disaster in Ethiopia with the evidence of the recent Dire Dawa and Omo River surroundings, especially during the rainy season. The situation resulted in much human death and destruction of infrastructures in different parts of the country, and the Alawuha watershed is among the typical areas for this problem. The study’s aim was to evaluate the flood risk management practices and map flood-vulnerable areas in the Alawuha catchment. Geographic information system (GIS) multi-criteria analysis and remote sensing with field verification were employed to meet the objective of this study. Slope, elevation, rainfall, drainage density, soil type, and distance to rivers are flood event aggravating factors in this study. These factors were weighted accordingly with their contribution to flood hazards. In addition, land use/land cover (LULC) and population distribution were identified as flood vulnerability factors. The weighted overlay analysis result shows that Sanka, Afrikari, Gedo-ber, Hara, and the surroundings, Woldia, were identified as high flood risk areas of the watershed. To minimize this problem, applying physical and biological measures at the watershed level is recommended.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

References

  • Akola J, Binala J, Ochwo J (2019) Guiding developments in flood-prone areas: challenges and opportunities in Dire Dawa city, Ethiopia. Jàmbá J Disaster Risk Stud 11(3). https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v11i3.704

  • Alemu W, Legesse Belachew D (2011). Flood hazard and risk assessment using GIS and remote sensing in Fogera Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0689-7_9

  • Ali SY (2002) Small-scale irrigation and household food security: a case study of three irrigation schemes in Gubalafto Woreda of North Wollo zone, Amhara region. Dissertation, Addis Ababa University

  • Assegid E (2007) Suitability analysis of the proposed upland rice production using GIS and remote sensing in Fogera Woreda. Addis Ababa University, Thesis

    Google Scholar 

  • Barasa BN, Perera EDP (2018) Analysis of land use change impacts on flash flood occurrences in the Sosiani River basin Kenya. Int J River Basin Manag 16(2):179–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhatt, G., Kumar, M., & Duffy, C. J (2014) A tightly coupled GIS and distributed hydrologic modeling framework. Environ Model Softw 62: 70–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2014.08.003

  • Bishaw, K (2012) Application of GIS and remote sensing techniques for flood hazard and risk assessment. Thesis, Ethiopian Civil Service University

  • Boudiaf B, Dabanli I, Boutaghane H, Şen Z (2020) Temperature and precipitation risk assessment under climate change effect in northeast Algeria. Earth Syst Environ 4:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-019-00136-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao C, Xu P, Wang Y, Chen J, Zheng L, Niu C (2016) Flash flood hazard susceptibility mapping using frequency ratio and statistical index methods in coalmine subsidence areas. Sustainability 8(9):948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen YR, Yeh CH, Yu B (2011) Integrated application of the analytic hierarchy process and the geographic information system for flood risk assessment and flood plain management in Taiwan. Nat Hazards 59(3):1261–1276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chikoto GL, Sadiq A, Fordyce E (2013) Disaster mitigation and preparedness. Nonprofit Volunt Sect Q 42:391–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Congalton RG, Green K (2008) Assessing the accuracy of remotely sensed data: principles and practices, Second Edition (2nd ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420055139

  • Costa JE (1975) Effects of agriculture on erosion and sedimentation in the Piedmont Province, Maryland. Geol Soc Am Bull 86(9):1281–1286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danumah JH, Odai SN, Saley BM, Szarzynski J, Thiel M, Kwaku A, Akpa LY (2016) Flood risk assessment and mapping in Abidjan district using multi-criteria analysis (AHP) model and geoinformation techniques, (cote d’ivoire). Geoenviron Dis 3(10):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40677-016-0044-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darama Y, Seyrek K (2016) Determination of watershed boundaries in Turkey by GIS based hydrological river basin coding. J Water Resour Prot 8:965–981. https://doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2016.811078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desalegn H, Mulu A (2021) Flood vulnerability assessment using GIS at Fetam watershed, upper Abbay basin. Ethiopia. Heliyon 7(1):e05865

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Risi R, Jalayer F, De Paola F et al (2020) From flood risk mapping toward reducing vulnerability: the case of Addis Ababa. Nat Hazards 100:387–415. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-019-03817-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis Mileti (1999) Disasters by design: a reassessment of natural hazards in the United States. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press.https://doi.org/10.17226/5782.

  • Dey P, Mishra A (2017) Separating the impacts of climate change and human activities on streamflow: a review of methodologies and critical assumptions. J Hydrol 548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.03.014.

  • El Bastawesy M, White K, Nasr A (2009) Integration of remote sensing and GIS for modelling flash floods in Wadi Hudain catchment, Egypt. Hydrol Process 23(9):1359–1368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eleni, K., Ioannis, F., Alexandros, K., Emmanouil, A., Konstantinos, N (2011) Flood hazard assessment based on geomorphological analysis with GIS tools-the case of Laconia (Peloponnesus, Greece). In: Proceedings of Symposium GIS Ostrava 24–26 January 2011

  • Elkhrachy I (2015) Flash flood hazard mapping using satellite images and GIS tools: a case study of Najran City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Egypt J Remote Sens Space Sci 18(2):261–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan F, Wang Y, Qiu M, Wang Z (2009) Evaluating the temporal and spatial urban expansion patterns of Guangzhou from 1979 to 2003 by remote sensing and GIS methods. Int J Geogr Inf Sci 23(11):1371–1388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feloni E, Mousadis I, Baltas E (2020) Flood vulnerability assessment using a GIS-based multi-criteria approach: the case of Attica region. J Flood Risk Manag 13:e12563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fu B, Qiu Y, Wang J, Chen L (2002) Effect simulations of land use change on the runoff and erosion for a gully catchment of the Loess Plateau. China ACTA Geographica Sinica-Chinese Edition 57(6):717–722

    Google Scholar 

  • Getahun YS, Gebre SL (2015) Flood hazard assessment and mapping of flood inundation area of the Awash River Basin in Ethiopia using GIS and HEC-GeoRAS/HEC-RAS model. J Civ Environ Eng 5(4):1

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghani AA, Ali R, Zakaria NA, Hasan ZA, Chang CK, Ahamad MSS (2010) A temporal change study of the Muda River system over 22 years. Int J River Basin Manag 8(1):25–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hadjimitsis DG (2010) Brief communication “Determination of urban growth in catchment areas in Cyprus using multi-temporal remotely sensed data: risk assessment study.” Nat Hazard 10(11):2235–2240. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-10-2235-2010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horton RE (1945) Erosional development of streams and their drainage basins; hydrophysical approach to quantitative morphology. Geol Soc Am Bull 56(3):275–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ISDR, U.N (2009) Global assessment report on disaster risk reduction. United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN ISDR), Geneva, Switzerland, ISSN, 980852698, 207

  • Jiang J, Tian G (2010) Analysis of the impact of land use/land cover change on land surface temperature with remote sensing. Procedia Environ Sci 2:571–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones JA, Grant GE (1996) Peak flow responses to clear-cutting and roads in small and large basins, western Cascades, Oregon. Water Resour Res 32(4):959–974

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazakis N, Kougias I, Patsialis T (2015) Assessment of flood hazard areas at a regional scale using an index-based approach and analytical hierarchy process: application in Rhodope-Evros region, Greece. Sci Total Environ 538:555–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.08.055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kia MB, Pirasteh S, Pradhan B, Mahmud AR, Sulaiman WNA, Moradi A (2012) An artificial neural network model for flood simulation using GIS: Johor River Basin. Malaysia Environ Earth Sci 67(1):251–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim J, Scott CD (2012) Robust kernel density estimation. The J Mach Learn Res 13(1):2529–2565

    Google Scholar 

  • Kusmiyarti TB, Wiguna PPK, Dewi NR (2018) Flood risk analysis in Denpasar City, Bali, Indonesia. In: Proceedings of IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 123(1): 012012. IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/123/1/012012

  • Lee MJ, Kang JE, Jeon S (2012) Application of frequency ratio model and validation for predictive flooded area susceptibility mapping using GIS. In: proceedings of 2012 IEEE international geoscience and remote sensing symposium, pp. 895–898

  • Lincoln WS, Zogg J, Brewster J (2016) Addition of a vulnerability component to the flash flood potential index. https://www.weather.gov/media/lmrfc/tech/2016_Vulnerability_Component_FFPI.pdf

  • Li S, Liu X, Li Z, Wu Z, Yan Z, Chen Y, Gao F (2018) Spatial and temporal dynamics of urban expansion along the Guangzhou-Foshan Inter-City Rail Transit Corridor, China

  • Li Y, Li Y, Fan P, Sun J, Liu Y (2019) Land use and landscape change driven by gully land consolidation project: a case study of a typical watershed in the Loess Plateau. J Geog Sci 29(5):719–729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-019-1623-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin Y-T, Yang M-D, Han J-Y, Su Y-F, Jang J-H (2020) Quantifying flood water levels using image-based volunteered geographic information. Remote Sensing 12(4):706. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12040706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loakes KL, Ryves DB, Lamb HF, Schäbitz F, Dee M, Tyler JJ, McGowan S (2018) Late quaternary climate change in the north-eastern highlands of Ethiopia: a high resolution 15,600 year diatom and pigment record from Lake Hayk. Quatern Sci Rev 202:166–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.09.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loyche Wilkie M, Holmgren P, Castaneda F (2003) Sustainable forest management and the ecosystem approach: two concepts, one goal

  • Marchi E, Chung W, Visser R, Abbas D, Nordfjell T, Mederski PS, Mcewan A, Brink M, Laschi A (2018) Sustainable forest operations (SFO): a new paradigm in a changing world and climate. Sci Total Environ 634:1385–1397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mengistie D, Kidane D (2016) Assessment of the impact of small-scale irrigation on household livelihood improvement at Gubalafto District, North Wollo, Ethiopia. Agriculture 6:1–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller SO, Ritter DF, Kochel RC, Miller JR (1993) Fluvial responses to land-use changes and climatic variations within the Drury Creek watershed, southern Illinois. Geomorphology 6(4):309–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moscrip AL, Montgomery DR (1997) Urbanization, flood frequency, and salmon abundance in Puget lowland streams. J Am Water Resour Assoc 33(6):1289–1297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nachtergaele F, van Velthuizen H, Verelst L, Batjes NH, Dijkshoorn K, van Engelen VWP, ... , Montanarela L (2010) The harmonized world soil database. In: Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World, Brisbane, Australia, 1–6 August 2010, pp. 34–37

  • Naif Rashed Alrehaili (2021) A systematic review of the emergency planning for flash floods response in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience 82–88. https://doi.org/10.47389/36.4.82

  • Nemani R, White M, Thornton P, Nishida K, Reddy S, Jenkins J, Running S (2002) Recent trends in hydrologic balance have enhanced the terrestrial carbon sink in the United States. Geophys Res Lett 29(10):106–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niyongabire E, Hassan R, Elhassan E, Mehdi M (2016) Use of digital elevation model in a GIS for flood susceptibility mapping: case of Bujumbura City. In: Proceedings of 6th international conference on cartography and GIS, Albena: Bulgaria, pp. 241–248

  • Nkeki FN, Henah PJ, Ojeh VN (2013) Geospatial techniques for the assessment and analysis of flood risk along the Niger-Benue Basin in Nigeria. J Geogr Inf Sci 5(2):123–135. https://doi.org/10.4236/jgis.2013.52013

  • Oda T, Egusa T, Ohte N, Hotta N, Tanaka N, Green M, Suzuki M (2021) Effects of changes in canopy interception on stream runoff response and recovery following clear‐cutting of a Japanese coniferous forest in Fukuroyamasawa Experimental Watershed in Japan. Hydrol Process. 35. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14177

  • Ogarekpe NM, Obio EA, Tenebe IT, Emenike PC, Nnaji CC (2020) Flood vulnerability assessment of the upper Cross River basin using morphometric analysis. Geomat Nat Haz Risk 11(1):1378–1403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ologunorisa TE (2004) An assessment of flood vulnerability zones in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Int J Environ Stud 61(1):31–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020723032000130061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouma YO, Tateishi R (2014) Urban flood vulnerability and risk mapping using integrated multi-parametric AHP and GIS: methodological overview and case study assessment. Water 6(6):1515–1545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pallard B, Castellarin A, Montanari A (2009) A look at the links between drainage density and flood statistics. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 13(7):1019–1029. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-13-1019-2009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papaioannou G, Vasiliades L, Loukas A (2015) Multi-criteria analysis framework for potential flood prone areas mapping. Water resources management 29(2):399–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahmati O, Pourghasemi HR, Zeinivand H (2016) Flood susceptibility mapping using frequency ratio and weights-of-evidence models in the Golastan Province. Iran Geocarto International 31(1):42–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricker MC, Donohue SW, Stolt MH, Zavada MS (2012) Development and application of multi-proxy indices of land use change for riparian soils in southern New England, USA. Ecological Applications, 22(2), 487–501. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41416777.

  • Rimba AB, Setiawati MD, Sambah AB, Miura F (2017) Physical flood vulnerability mapping applying geospatial techniques in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture. Japan Urban Science 1(1):7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogger M, Agnoletti M, Alaoui A, Bathurst JC, Bodner G, Borga M, Blöschl G (2017) Land use change impacts on floods at the catchment scale: challenges and opportunities for future research. Water Resour Res 53(7):5209–5219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samanta RK, Bhunia GS, Shit PK, Pourghasemi HR (2018) Flood susceptibility mapping using geospatial frequency ratio technique: a case study of Subarnarekha River Basin. India Modeling Earth Systems and Environment 4(1):395–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-018-0427-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkar D, Mondal P (2020) Flood vulnerability mapping using frequency ratio (FR) model: a case study on Kulik river basin. Indo-Bangladesh Barind Region Applied Water Science 10(1):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumann AH, Funke R, Schultz GA (2000) Application of a geographic information system for conceptual rainfall–runoff modeling. J Hydrol 240(1–2):45–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sena L and Michael KW (2006) Disaster prevention and preparedness. Ethiopia Public Heal Train Initiat 1: 1–80. Thesis, Addis Ababa University

  • Shaaban F, Othman A, Habeebullah T, Saoud W (2021) An integrated GPR and geoinformatics approach for assessing potential risks of flash floods on high-voltage towers, Makkah. Saudi Arabia Environmental Earth Sciences 80:199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09454-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shimeles A, Woldemichael A (2013) Rising food prices and household welfare in Ethiopia: evidence from micro data. African Development Bank Group, Working Paper Series (182)

  • Singh G, Pandey A (2021) Flash flood vulnerability assessment and zonation through an integrated approach in the Upper Ganga Basin of the Northwest Himalayan region in Uttarakhand. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 66:102573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tehrany MS, Pradhan B, Jebur MN (2013) Spatial prediction of flood susceptible areas using rule based decision tree (DT) and a novel ensemble bivariate and multivariate statistical models in GIS. J Hydrol 504:69–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tehrany MS, Pradhan B, Jebur MN (2014) Flood susceptibility mapping using a novel ensemble weights-of-evidence and support vector machine models in GIS. J Hydrol 512:332–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tehrany MS, Pradhan B, Jebur MN (2015) Flood susceptibility analysis and its verification using a novel ensemble support vector machine and frequency ratio method. Stoch Env Res Risk Assess 29(4):1149–1165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trenberth KE (2008) The impact of climate change and variability on heavy precipitation, floods, and droughts. Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1002/0470848944.hsa211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Sande CJ, De Jong SM, De Roo APJ (2003) A segmentation and classification approach of IKONOS-2 imagery for land cover mapping to assist flood risk and flood damage assessment. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 4(3):217–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Weibull W (1939) A statistical theory of the strength of material. R. Swedish Acad. Eng. Sci. Proc. No 151:1–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Weldegebriel ZB, Amphune BE (2017) Livelihood resilience in the face of recurring floods: an empirical evidence from Northwest Ethiopia. Geoenvironmental Disasters 4(10):1–19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40677-017-0074-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu H, Gu G, Yan Y, Gao Z, Adler RF (2018) Global flood monitoring using satellite precipitation and hydrological modeling. Global Flood Hazard: Applications in Modeling, Mapping, and Forecasting 87-113. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119217886.ch6

  • Xiong J, Li J, Cheng W, Wang N, Guo L (2019) A GIS-based support vector machine model for flash flood vulnerability assessment and mapping in China. ISPRS Int J Geo Inf 8(7):297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zachariev G (2016) A statistical theory of the damage of materials. Modern Mechanical Engineering 6:129–150. https://doi.org/10.4236/mme.2016.64013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng C, Wang Q (2013) Spatiotemporal variations of reference evapotranspiration in recent five decades in the arid land of Northwestern China. Hydrol Process 28(25):6124–6134. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L, Zhu W (2011) Study on soil erosion and its effects on agriculture sustainable development in west Henan province loess hilly areas. 2011 International Symposium on Water Resource and Environmental Protection. https://doi.org/10.1109/iswrep.2011.5893593.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Woldia University, Woldia, Ethiopia

    Fisha Semaw, Getnet Zeleke & Abel Balew

  2. Henan Key Laboratory of Earth System Observation and Modeling, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China

    Fisha Semaw

  3. College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China

    Fisha Semaw

Authors
  1. Fisha Semaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Getnet Zeleke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Abel Balew
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

The authors prepared the research proposal; collected, encoded, and interpreted the spatial data; and wrote the research report draft. They processed and derived LULC classes from Landsat images, analyzed and interpreted flood modeling, and prepared the manuscript for publication. The authors edited and revised the manuscript and approved it to send to the journal.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fisha Semaw.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Author information

Fisha Semaw and Abel Balew graduated in Geography and Environmental Studies from Mada walabu University and gained their MSc degree in GIS and Remote Sensing from Addis Ababa University. Getnet Zeleke graduated in Geography and Environmental Studies from Wollega University and gained his MSc degree in Environmental Management from Addis Ababa University. Currently, the authors are working as a lecturer in Woldia University.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Semaw, F., Zeleke, G. & Balew, A. Evaluating flood risk management practices and vulnerability mapping in Alawuha watershed (North Wollo Zone, Ethiopia) using GIS and remote sensing. Appl Geomat 14, 347–367 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12518-022-00429-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12518-022-00429-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation