GIS Based Information System to Identify Flood Prone Area in Bangladesh

Flood is considered as one of the most destructive natural calamities in Bangladesh especially the areas those are close to the rivers. This study focused to identify the Jamuna river and the possible flood prone areas nearby the Jamuna river using Geographic Information System. In this study a suitable approach has been proposed incorporating mapping and simulation of flood prone areas utilizing ArcGIS model for image classification, water body extraction and AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) for data identification and decision making. A number of factors considered in this study which include (i) area of water body, (ii) distance of agricultural land from river, (iii) distance of bare land from river, (iv) distance of houses from river, (v) height of land from water level and (vi) embankments. The model, together with the hydrologic behavior of the watershed such as the extent of flooding, is very helpful for the development and enhancement of early warning systems in the affected areas.