Identification of flood hazard zones in Afghanistan using GIS and multi-criteria decision approach

Abstract

This study assessed Afghanistan's potential flood hazard zones using the geographic information systems (GIS) and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Six different thematic layers were selected, and the AHP was applied to estimate the influence weights of each parameter. The final flood hazard zones map (FHZM) was reclassified into five zones. Sensitivity analysis was employed to create the flood hazard sensitivity map (FHSM) based on 'effective weights'. It was found that the land use land cover (LULC) and rainfall are less sensitive compared to the other parameters. The FHZM and FHSM comparatively indicate the same regions regarding flood hazard levels. The methodology was tested against the recorded flood events in the region. The results showed that about 44% of the study area is under low and very low flood hazards, whereas 56% is subjected to high and very high. Low-lying areas are highly prone to flooding.