Flooding Hazard Assessment Considering Climate Change in the Coastal Areas of Algeria Based on a Remote Sensing and GIS Data Base

Abstract

Evaluations of satellite data, geophysic, bathymetric and meteorologic data as well as digital elevation data, help to identify critical coastal areas in N-Algeria exposed to flooding due to flash floods, storm surge, meteo-tsunamis or tsunami waves. Data mining is the prerequisite for flooding hazard preparedness. It is aiming at visualizing critical areas and providing information about damage in case of emergency due to flooding hazards as fast as possible, as the civil protection units need this information for their management. The actual inventory of land use and infrastructure (bridges, railroads, roads, river embankments, etc.), industrial facilities and the structure of settlements and cities is an important issue for the hazard assessment and damage loss estimation. Sea level rise due to climate change has to be considered when dealing with the detection of areas susceptible to flooding. Evaluations of optical satellite data such as Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 and radar data (Sentinel 1, ALOS PALSAR) contribute to a better understanding of the development of currents at the coast and their interactions with the coastal morphology. A systematic inventory of coast segments showing traces of flooding in the past is presented as well as the monitoring of coast-near lowlands, lakes and ponds. Digital elevation model (DEM) including bathymetric data help to identify areas prone to flooding.