Flood Susceptibility Mapping of the Northern Iraq Using Morphometric and Principal Component Analyses

Abstract In the last two years, flash floods caused by heavy rainstorms have become frequent and destructive in the Erbil area of northern Iraq. Heavy rainfall in a small area considerably impacts human life, infrastructure, agriculture, and the economy. Flood assessment and management are considered complex processes in hydrological investigations. The present study aims to examine flash floods in the Erbil region, Northern Iraq using remote sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS), and geological and geomorphic data. Further, based on significant correlations, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to group the geomorphic parameters of various components. PCA results revealed that 12 geomorphic parameters exhibited a significant correlation with components 1 and 2. In addition, ranks are assigned based on the calculated compound parameters for flood susceptibility mapping and categorization into three classes (high, moderate, and low). For validating the accuracy of the results, the final flood susceptibility was compared with that obtained using the El-Shamy method. The flood-susceptible areas were further assessed based on past flood damages, such as economic losses and human casualties. The results show a significant correlation between the location of the flood-susceptible areas and past flood damages. .