TITLE:
Geospatial Modeling for Sinkholes Hazard Map Based on GIS & RS Data
AUTHORS:
Omar Al-Kouri, A’kif Al-Fugara, Samih Al-Rawashdeh, Balqies Sadoun, Balqies Sadoun, Biswajeet Pradhan
KEYWORDS:
Geo-Hazard Mapping; Karst; Sinkholes; Geospatial Modeling
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.5 No.6,
December
26,
2013
ABSTRACT:
The Kinta Valley is an area of
karst in the north-western part of Peninsular Malaysia. Over 30 years of
uncontrolled land use and development has led to significant changes in
topography and geomorphology, such as the appearance of sinkholes. In this
paper, geospatial techniques were utilized to the task of evaluating sinkholes
susceptibility map using a spatial multi criteria evaluation approach (SMCE). Sinkhole
location and a spatial database were applied to calculate eight inherent
causative factors for limestone instability namely: lithology, structure
(lineament), soil cover, slope, land use mining, urban area features, ponds and
rivers. The preparation of the sinkhole geohazard map involved summing the
weighted values for each hazard element, which permits the construction of
geohazard model; the results of the analysis were validated using the previous
actual sinkholes locations in the study area. The spatial distribution of sinkholes
occurrence, urban development, faults distribution and ex-mining ponds are
factors that are directly responsible for all sinkholes subsidence hazards. Further, the resulting geo-hazard map
shows that 93% of recent sinkholes occur in areas where the model flags as “high” and
“very high” potential hazard, located in the urbanized part of the valley,
while less-developed areas to the west and southwest suffered less sinkhole
development. The results can be used for hazard prevention and land-use
planning.