Mapping of areas vulnerable to flooding in the municipality of Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Pernambuco

Abstract

The urbanization phenomenon in Brazil has developed in an accelerated and disorderly way, significantly changing the conditions of land use and resulting in considerable changes in the water cycle. The impact of this process has become one of the main problems faced by the city which is the increase of floods. Thus, the present work sought to map the areas vulnerable to these types of water disasters in the municipality of Jaboatão dos Guararapes, in Pernambuco, using the AHP (Analysis Hierarchy Process) in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Therefore, seven factors that contribute to water disasters were selected and processed in the QGIS software (3.10.9) where they were regrouped and arranged for map algebra. So, it was possible to make a map of areas vulnerable to flooding in the considered region where it was observed that the regions that are more prone to water disasters are those that are close to water bodies and have low inclination and altitudes, strong human interventions and soils with low infiltration capacity. The use of AHP for mapping areas vulnerable to flooding in the municipality of Jaboatão dos Guararapes showed a beneficial alternative in terms of applicability and feasibility, allowing decision-making by managers and/or professionals.