Geomorphological hazards assessment and mapping over the urban area (A case study of Mahneshan City - NW Iran)

Geomorphologic hazards are most importance task for sustainable development in an urban area. Furthermore, the Geo-Hazard study for identification and vulnerability assessment in term of zonation can help urban planner to determined high risk area. The out com map of this study can mark the target area for future physical developing as low to high hazard zone. Where the city physical developing in form of settlements and infrastructures should take place in a low hazard area for its more safety. This research work involved geomorphologic hazard assessment (Geo-hazard) in Mahneshan urban area. The study’s main objects are to identify and prepare an inventory of morphological hazardous factors for integrated and vulnerability assessments as well as physical developing trend extraction. A loge with this two main aims, the hazard map of pervious developed area was generated to identify the degree of safety for human and infrastructures. The several data input namely remote sensing images, hydrological and climatic data, digital thematic maps, etc. along with field data collection has been processed over GIS environment to prepared digital layers as input to model for final Geo-hazard map generation. The set of geomorphologic maps such as litiology, morpho units, lineaments, land use/Landover, slope, aspect, drainage pattern, and soil were forms an input as an integrated database in the analysis of the Landslide Hazard Zonation Map (LHZM), Earthquake Risk Map (ERM) and Flood Hazard Map (FHM). The three above individual maps were classed into three different categories from very high to very low hazard. The amount of weight that is given to a certain factor and the way this factor is classified is highly subjective. The different hazards with their respective weighted values were combined into a Geo-hazard map.