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Flash flood risk estimation along the St. Katherine road, southern Sinai, Egypt using GIS based morphometry and satellite imagery

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Abstract

Flash floods are considered to be one of the worst weather-related natural disasters. They are dangerous because they are sudden and are highly unpredictable following brief spells of heavy rain. Several qualitative methods exist in the literature for the estimations of the risk level of flash flood hazard within a watershed. This paper presents the utilization of remote sensing data such as enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), coupled with geological, geomorphological, and field data in a GIS environment for the estimation of the flash flood risk along the Feiran–Katherine road, southern Sinai, Egypt. This road is a vital corridor for the tourists visiting here for religious purposes (St. Katherine monastery) and is subjected to frequent flash floods, causing heavy damage to man-made features. In this paper, morphometric analyses have been used to estimate the flash flood risk levels of sub-watersheds within the Wadi Feiran basin. First, drainage characteristics are captured by a set of parameters relevant to the flash flood risk. Further, comparison between the effectiveness of the sub-basins has been performed in order to understand the active ones. A detailed geomorphological map for the most hazardous sub-basins is presented. In addition, a map identifying sensitive sections is constructed for the Feiran–Katherine road. Finally, the most influenced factors for both flash flood hazard and critical sensitive zones have been discussed. The results of this study can initiate appropriate measures to mitigate the probable hazards in the area.

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Acknowledgments

This manuscript is greatly benefited from the very useful remarks by the anonymous reviewers. Authors would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive comments which helped to bring the paper to bring to the current form.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Hazards, Applied Geology section, Saudi Geological Survey, P.O.Box 54141, Jeddah, 21514, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmed M. Youssef

  2. Faculty of Forestry, Geo and Hydro-Science, Dresden University of Technology, 01062, Dresden, Germany

    Biswajeet Pradhan

  3. Department of Geology, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt

    Ahmed M. Youssef & Abdallah Mohamed Hassan

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  1. Ahmed M. Youssef
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  2. Biswajeet Pradhan
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  3. Abdallah Mohamed Hassan
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Correspondence to Biswajeet Pradhan.

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Youssef, A.M., Pradhan, B. & Hassan, A.M. Flash flood risk estimation along the St. Katherine road, southern Sinai, Egypt using GIS based morphometry and satellite imagery. Environ Earth Sci 62, 611–623 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-010-0551-1

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