DEM-Based Approaches for the Delineation of Flood-Prone Areas in an Ungauged Basin in Africa

Abstract

In the present work, the flood hazard exposure in an ungauged basin in Africa is assessed exploiting the basin morphological characteristics. Flood-prone areas are identified using linear binary classifiers based on several geomorphic descriptors extracted from digital elevation models (DEMs). The classifiers are calibrated individually and evaluated by comparing their outputs with a flood inundation map obtained by two-dimensional (2D) hydraulic simulations and using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves as performance measures. The best-performing descriptors for the subcatchment of the Bulbula River, near the city of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), are the elevation difference,