Hydrological Analysis and Flood Hazard Mitigation in Al Ain City, United Arab Emirates (UAE), SE Arabia: GIS and Remote Sensing Implication

During the last three decades, six major floods have stricken Al Ain city, UAE, caused serious property loss. Therefore, morphometric and hydrologic characteristics of Hafit mountain basin / Al Ain city have been investigated using GIS and remote sensing. This investigation helped to determine the main factors controlling flood hazard in Al Ain city and the most affected area by flood hazard.

Watershed analysis of the study area helped to identify five main sub-basins. All of them are drained to the west as they are influenced by the surface topography and dipping slopes. This analysis explains the abundance of surface and groundwater west of Hafit Mountain.

Five pour points have been placed on the lowest point of each basin where the highest accumulation flow ratio occurs. Another pour point was identified where a big change in stream direction occurred. These pour points are considered the most threatened areas by flood hazard and consequently potential sites for building dams and stream gauges. The dams and gauges could be also used to recharge exploited groundwater aquifer that contribute significantly to sustainable water resource management in such a hyper-arid area.

The highest flow accumulation occurs in the northwestern part of Wadi Al Ain up to 140 km², which explains the re-occurrence of flood in Al Ain City for several years.