Spatial Identification of the Flood-Prone Area in Jeli, Kelantan

¹ Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Jeli Campus, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia
² Faculty of Bioengineering and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Jeli Campus, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia
³ Institute of Environment and Development, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi Selangor
⁴ Environment and Sustainable Development Research Group, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia
⁵ Tropical Rainforest Research Centre (UMK-TRaCe), Pulau Banding, Gerik Perak

^* Corresponding author: amalnajihah@umk.edu.my

Abstract

Flooding is a serious environmental threat with no quantitative assessment of its consequences. It is necessary to understand which places are at risk of flooding to implement flood mitigation strategies. However, landscape factors are still lacking in the development of a flood-prone area map. This study aims to examine the landscape structure that has the potential to cause flood events in Jeli and develop a flood-prone area map in Jeli. The study used satellite images, ground truthing technique, image classification, landscape structure analysis, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results indicate that the higher density of the built-up area, the area near the water bodies, lower elevation ground surface, and surfaces with a steep slope have a high level of flood-prone areas and are the most vulnerable to flood. 38.11 % of the land use/land cover has a high level of flood-prone area, 43.13 % for medium level, and 18.75 % for low level. The findings can contribute to the sustainable planning and management of land use for flooding mitigation strategies.