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Assessment of Seasonal Land-Use Change Scenarios and Their Impact on Flood Hazard Zonation in the Samian Watershed Using the Google Earth Engine Platform
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Sayyad Asghari Saraskanroud *1   , Fatemeh Samadi Shalveh Alia2 , Batool Zeinali1 , Zeinab Hazbavi3 |
1- Professor ، Department of Physical Geography ، Faculty of Social Sciences ، University of Mohaghegh Ardabili ، Ardabil ، Iran
2- Master's Student ، Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) ، Department of Physical Geography ، Faculty of Social Sciences ، University of Mohaghegh Ardabili ، Ardabil ، Iran.
3- Associate Professor, Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Water Management Research Center, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran |
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Abstract: (219 Views) |
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate seasonal land-use change scenarios and analyze their impact on flood hazard zonation in the Samian watershed. The main focus was on assessing land-use variations in spring and autumn and examining their influence on the hydrological behavior of the basin using remote sensing datasets within the Google Earth Engine platform.
Methodology: This study utilized Landsat-9 and Sentinel-2 (2024) satellite imagery, Dynamic World and GHSL products, the SRTM digital elevation model, as well as geological and soil texture maps. Land-use/land-cover maps for spring and autumn were generated using spectral indices and the Random Forest classifier, and their accuracy was assessed through overall accuracy and the Kappa coefficient. To delineate flood hazard zones, the modified Flash Flood Potential Index (MFFPI) was applied. Six parameters—including slope, flow accumulation, curvature, soil texture, bedrock permeability, and land-use/land-cover—were weighted and integrated within the ArcMap environment to produce the final flood hazard map.
Findings: The results indicated that seasonal variations in land use have a significant impact on flood potential. In spring, dense vegetation cover and increased soil permeability placed a large portion of the watershed in low and moderate hazard classes. In contrast, autumn exhibited the highest flood susceptibility due to substantial reductions in vegetation cover following crop harvest and the onset of autumn precipitation. During this season, the area classified as “very high hazard” increased to approximately 92 km². The MFFPI model results further confirmed the high sensitivity of the index to seasonal land-use changes.
Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that flood risk in the Samian watershed is dynamic and strongly influenced by seasonal land-use variations. Autumn was identified as the critical season for flood susceptibility and should therefore receive prioritized attention in flood management and watershed planning. Additionally, the study highlights that integrating multi-source remote sensing data with Google Earth Engine–based processing provides an effective approach for rapid monitoring and analysis of short-term changes affecting flood potential at the watershed scale.
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Article number: 9 |
| Keywords: Flood hazard zonation, Modified Flash Flood Potential Index (MFFPI) |
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Full-Text [PDF 1529 kb]
(57 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/11/9 | Accepted: 2026/05/14 | Published: 2026/06/22
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