Flooding Prediction in Wadi Zarqa Ma'in Basin, Jordan: A Study in Applied Geomorphology

Abstract

The study focused on different methods to analyze the hydrological and Morphometric properties of the Zarqa Ma'in Basin and bind them with a specific number of natural variables for predicting the possibility of floods in the basin by using different scenarios. At the end of the stage, the study aims to find the best-applied aspects of the basin in terms of geomorphology in light of the results of the study. The methodology was applied by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), different satellite images, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and different data sources that were needed to produce flood maps. The study showed that the basin is vulnerable to floods of varying levels during the seasons of the year based on the natural characteristics, especially regarding climate changes, which include rain precipitation and its intensity. The result showed that 34% of the basin is vulnerable to floods during the Autumn season due to heavy rains and the absence of vegetation cover. It also observed that the probability of the basin might be exposed to flood during the winter season with the same intensity and reached 19% in the steepness area which is characterized by low infiltration and penetration of rainfall. The study recommended using field surveys supported by a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to study the natural and human causes that could be introduced into estimating the possibility of flooding or not.