Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Integrated rainfall–runoff and flood inundation modeling for flash flood risk assessment under data scarcity in arid regions: Wadi Fatimah basin case study, Saudi Arabia

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Natural Hazards Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents a proposed integrated approach for flood hazardous evaluation in arid and semi-arid areas. Wadi Fatimah in Saudi Arabia is utilized for implementation of such an approach. The approach consists of four stages. In the first stage, a statistical analysis of rainfall data is performed to determine the design storms at specified return periods. In the second stage, geological and geomorphologic analyses are followed to estimate the geomorphic parameters. The third stage concerned with land use and land cover analyses linked with hydrological analysis to estimate the hydrographs. The fourth stage is related to the delineation of the inundation area under two scenarios: the presence and absence of the dam. The statistical analysis proved that some rainfall stations do not follow a Gumbel distribution. The presence of the dam reduces the inundation depth by about 10 %. The reduction in the inundation area due the presence of the dam is about 25 %.

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
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Al Saud M (2009) Morphometric analysis of Wadi Aurnah drainage system western Arabian Peninsula. Open Hydrol J 3:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Al Yamani MS (2004) Hydraulic response of wadi Fatimah basin, western province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Arab Gulf J Sci Res 22(3):157–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Ahmadi FS (2005) Rainfall-runoff modeling in arid regions using GIS and RS. Case study: western of Saudi Arabia. M.Sc. thesis, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

  • Brunner GW (2010) HEC-RAS, river analysis system hydraulic reference manual. USACE-HEC, Davis

  • Chow VT (1959) Open channel hydraulics. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow VT, Maidment DR, Mays L (1988) Applied hydrology. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow VT, Maidment DR, Mays LW (2002) Applied hydrology. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Collier C (2007) Flash flood forecasting: what are the limits of predictability? Q J R Meteorol Soc 133(622A):3–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creutin JD, Borga M (2003) Radar hydrology modifies the monitoring of flash flood hazard. Hydrol Process 17(7):1453–1456. doi:10.1002/hyp.5122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaglin R (2012) SMADA software. UCF rainfall analysis. https://ucf-rainfall.pbworks.com/w/page/9654987/FrontPage

  • El Osta MM, Masoud HM (2015) Implementation of a hydrologic model and GIS for estimating Wadi runoff in Dernah area, Al Jabal Al Akhadar, NE Libya. J Afr Earth Sci 107:36–56. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.03.022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Environmental Modeling Research Laboratory (EMRL) (1998) Watershed modeling system (WMS), reference manual and tutorial

  • Fernandez D, Lutz M (2010) Urban flood hazard zoning in Tucumán Province, Argentina, using GIS and multicriteria decision analysis. Eng Geol 111(1–4):90–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgakakos KP (1992) Advances in forecasting flash floods. In: Proceedings of the CCNAA-AIT joint seminar on prediction and damage mitigation of meteorologically induced natural disasters, 21–24 May 1992, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, pp 280–293

  • Guzzetti F, Tonelli G (2004) Information system on hydrological and geomorphological catastrophes in Italy (SICI): a tool for managing landslide and flood hazards. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 4:213–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He YP, Xie H, Cui P, Wei FQ, Zhong DL, Gardner JS (2003) GIS-based hazard mapping and zonation of debris flows in Xiaojiang Basin, southwestern China. Environ Geol 45(2):286–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • HEC (2000) Hydrologic modeling system: technical reference manual. US Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center, Davis

    Google Scholar 

  • Horton RE (1932) Drainage basin characteristics. Trans Am Geophys Union 13:350–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masoud MH (2015) Rainfall-runoff modeling of ungauged Wadis in arid environments (case study Wadi Rabigh-Saudi Arabia). Arab J Geosci 8(5):2587–2606. doi:10.1007/s12517-014-1404-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masoud MH (2016) Geoinformatics application for assessing the morphometric characteristics’ effect on hydrological response at watershed (case study of Wadi Qanunah, Saudi Arabia). Arab J Geosci 9:280. doi:10.1007/s12517-015-2300-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masoud M, Niyazi B, Elfeki A, Zaidi S (2014) Mapping of flash flood hazard prone areas based on integration between physiographic features and GIS techniques (case study of Wadi Fatimah, Saudi Arabia). In: 6th International conference on water resources and the arid environments (ICWRAE 6), pp 334–347, 16–17 Dec 2014, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  • Merzi N, Aktas MT (2000) Geographic information systems (GIS) for the determination of inundation maps of Lake Mogan, Turkey. Water Int 25(3):474–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nageswararao K, Swarna LP, Arun KP, Hari KM (2010) Morphometric analysis of Gostani River basin in Andhra Pradesh State, India using spatial information technology. Int J Geomat Geosci 1(2):79–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niyazi B, Elfeki A, Masoud M, Zaidi S (2014) Spatio-temporal rainfall analysis at Wadi Fatimah for flood risk assessment. In: 6th international conference on water resources and the arid environments (ICWRAE 6), pp 308–314, 16–17 Dec 2014, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  • Pappenberger F, Matgen P, Beven KJ, Henry JB, Pfister L, Fraipont P (2006) Influence of uncertain boundary conditions and model structure on flood inundation predictions. Adv Water Resour 29(10):1430–1449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudriaih M, Govindaiah S, Srinivas Vittala S (2008) Morphometry using Remote sensing Techniques in the sub-Basins of Kagna River Basin, Gulburga District, Karnataka, India. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 36(12):351–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanyal J, Lu X (2006) GIS-based flood hazard mapping at different administrative scales: a case study in Gangetic West Bengal, India. Singap J Trop Geogr 27:207–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Şen Z, Khiyami AH, Al-Harthy SG, Al-Ammawi FA, Al-Balkhi AB, Al-Zahrani MI, Al-Hawsawy HM (2012) Flash flood inundation map preparation for Wadi in arid regions. Arab J Geosci. doi:10.1007/s12517-012-0614-6

    Google Scholar 

  • Strahler AN (1964) Quantitative geomorphology of drainage basins and channel networks. Handbook of applied hydrology. McGraw Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Subyani AM (2009) Hydrologic behavior and flood probability for selected arid basins in Makkah area, western Saudi Arabia. Arab J Geosci. doi:10.1007/s12517-009-0098

    Google Scholar 

  • Sui DZ, Maggio RC (1999) Integrating GIS with hydrological modeling: practices, problems, and prospects. Comput Environ Urban Syst 23:33–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viessman W, Knapp JW, Lewis GL, Harbauqh TE (1977) Introduction to hydrology. Happer and Row Publishers, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheater HS, Laurentis P, Hamilton GS (1989) Design rainfall characteristics for South-West Saudi Arabia. Proc Inst Civ Eng 87(4):517–538

    Google Scholar 

  • Younis J, Anquetin S, Thielen J (2008) The benefit of high resolution operational weather forecasts for flash-flood warning. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci Discuss 5:345–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zerger A, Smith DI (2003) Impediments to using GIS for real-time disaster decision support. Comput Environ Urban Syst 27:123–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under Grant No. 416/155/1434. The authors, therefore, acknowledge with thanks DSR technical and financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80208, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    Amro Elfeki & Burhan Niyazi

  2. Water Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80208, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    Milad Masoud & Burhan Niyazi

Authors
  1. Amro Elfeki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Milad Masoud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Burhan Niyazi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amro Elfeki.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 2792 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Elfeki, A., Masoud, M. & Niyazi, B. Integrated rainfall–runoff and flood inundation modeling for flash flood risk assessment under data scarcity in arid regions: Wadi Fatimah basin case study, Saudi Arabia. Nat Hazards 85, 87–109 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2559-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2559-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation