Volume 21, Issue 3-2, September 2017

USING CLIMATE-SOIL-SOCIOECONOMIC PARAMETERS FOR A DROUGHT VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT IN A SEMI-ARID REGION: APPLICATION AT THE REGION OF EL HODNA, (M’SILA, ALGERIA)


Authors: Meriem Boultif, Hassen Benmessaoud

Abstract: The objective of this study is to contribute in assessing and monitoring drought’s vulnerability by developing a GIS- based model to determine vulnerable areas to this natural hazard; the model utilizes a series of agricultural, statistical, meteorological and remotely sensed data, using GIS weighed ponderation and multicriteria analysis decision making, with the integration of three components: climatic sensibility, soil sensibility and socioeconomic sensibility. The result is a vulnerability map classified into five classes according to pixel values. Very Vulnerable class forms 19.46% of the study area, vulnerable class forms 32.81% and 21.37% of the area is not vulnerable, the study presents a modeling procedure of which the final results provide to researchers, users and decision makers important information on the environmental situation of the study area, for better prediction, and risk management.

Keywords: Drought; Modelling; GIS; Multi-criteria Analysis; Vulnerability

DOI: 10.5937/GeoPan1703142B

Article info: 142-150

Received: March 18, 2017 | Revised: June 5, 2017 | Accepted: June 19, 2017


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