Tsunami Risk Site detection in Greece Based on Remote Sensing and GIS Methods

Based on LANDSAT ETM and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data derived bu the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) of the coastal areas of Greece were investigated in order to detect traces of earlier tsunami events. Digital image processing methods used to produce hillshade, slope, minimum and maximum curvature maps based on the SRTM DEM data contribute to the detection of morphologic traces that might be related to catastrophic tsunami events. These maps combined with LANDSAT ETM and seismotectonic data in a GIS environment allow the delineation of coastal regions with potential tsunami risk. The evaluations of Landsat ETM imageries merged with digitally processed and enhanced SRTM data clearly show areas that must have been flooded in earlier times. In some cases morphologic traces of waves as curvilinear scarps open to the sea-side are clearly visible.