Flood Hazard Assessment for the Construction of Flood Hazard Map and Land Development Priority Map Using NOAA/AVHRR Data and GIS - A Case Study in Bangladesh

Bangladesh suffered damage on account of the most catastrophic floods of 1987, 1988 and 1998, resulting in untold suffering of the people. This paper demonstrates the technique to develop a flood hazard map and a land development priority map for countermeasure against flood damage. To create the final products, flood hazard map and land development priority map, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data for the flood events of 1988, 1995 and 1998 were incorporated with Geographical Information System data of physiographic divisions, geologic divisions, land cover classification, elevation height, drainage network, administrative districts and population density. Flood-affected frequency and flood depth categories were estimated using NOAA AVHRR images. Special attention was paid to population density for the construction of the land development priority map, because highly dense populated areas represent the highly important urban and industrial areas of Bangladesh. The land development priority map offers a new opportunity for flood risk management, planning, design and operation of flood control measure in Bangladesh, and should be useful in assigning priorities for the development of at-risk-areas.