Evaluating Flood Vulnerability with Remote Sensing and GIS: Urban Development Challenges in Chennai City Region, Tamil Nadu, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58825/jog.2026.20.1.192Keywords:
Heavy Flood, Remote Sensing, GIS, Vulnerability Assessment, Chennai City, Spatial AnalysisAbstract
This study evaluates flood vulnerability in the Chennai City Region, Tamil Nadu, using remote sensing and GIS techniques to guide urban development planning. With rapid urbanization and recurrent flooding, Chennai faces heightened risks from heavy monsoon rains, inadequate drainage, and encroachment on natural floodplains. Sentinel-2 and Landsat satellite imagery, combined with GIS data such as digital elevation models (DEM) and land-use maps, were used to classify land cover, map flood extents, and assess flood vulnerability. A multi-criteria evaluation using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) identified key vulnerability factors, including population density, elevation, land use, and proximity to water bodies and drainage infrastructure. The study also conducted sensitivity analyses, including map-removal sensitivity analyses, to quantify the impact of individual parameters on flood vulnerability mapping. The findings reveal significant urban expansion (85% of the area) and widespread impermeable surfaces contributing to high surface runoff and limited infiltration. Topographic Wetness Index (TWI), drainage density, slope, and distance from streams were used to assess flood-prone zones further. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated to evaluate the extent and health of vegetation affected by flooding. At the same time, DEMs and terrain analysis provided insights into low-lying areas with higher flood vulnerability. The research identified flood-prone zones classified into low, medium, and high-risk areas, covering 24.4%, 50.2%, and 25.4% of the study region, respectively. These results underscore the need for sustainable land-use management, improved drainage infrastructure, and climate-resilient urban development strategies to mitigate flood vulnerability in Chennai. The comprehensive assessment aims to support flood vulnerability management efforts and urban resilience planning in the region.
References
Ahmed, C. F., and N. Kranthi. 2018. “Flood Vulnerability Assessment Using Geospatial Techniques: Chennai, India.” Indian Journal of Science and Technology 11(6):215–223. https://dx.doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2018/v11i6/110831
Alabdan, R., C. Sharmila, N. Alruwais, H. M. Alshahrani, S. Anbukkarasi, M. Sujatha, and S. Vivek. 2025. “Assessment of Flood Vulnerability in a Coastal Metropolitan City for Sustainable Environment Using Machine Learning Methods.” Scientific Reports 15(1):24796. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08912-4
Avand, M., and H. Moradi. 2021. “Using Machine Learning Models, Remote Sensing, and GIS to Investigate the Effects of Changing Climates and Land Uses on Flood Probability.” Journal of Hydrology 595:125663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125663
Bagyaraj, M., V. Senapathi, S. Y. Chung, G. Gopalakrishnan, Y. Xiao, S. Karthikeyan, et al. 2023. “A Geospatial Approach for Assessing Urban Flood Risk Zones in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research 30(45):100562–100575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29132-1
Brema, J. 2020. “Flood Modelling and Mapping: Case Study on Adyar River Basin, Chennai, India.” Pp. 104–139 in Decision Support Methods for Assessing Flood Risk and Vulnerability. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-9771-1.ch006
Burayu, D. G., S. Karuppannan, and G. Shuniye. 2023. “Identifying Flood Vulnerable and Risk Areas Using the Integration of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), GIS, and Remote Sensing: A Case Study of the Southern Oromia Region.” Urban Climate 51:101640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101640
Chanu, C. S., L. Elango, and G. R. Shankar. 2021. “A Geospatial Approach for Assessing the Relation between Changing Land Use/Land Cover and Environmental Parameters Including Land Surface Temperature of Chennai Metropolitan City, India.” Arabian Journal of Geosciences 14(2):132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-06409-0
Cheng, J., C. Song, K. Liu, C. Fan, L. Ke, T. Chen, et al. 2022. “Satellite and UAV-Based Remote Sensing for Assessing the Flooding Risk from Tibetan Lake Expansion and Optimizing the Village Relocation Site.” Science of the Total Environment 802:149928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149928
Darko, A., A. P. C. Chan, E. E. Ameyaw, E. K. Owusu, E. Pärn, and D. J. Edwards. 2019. “Review of Application of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Construction.” International Journal of Construction Management 19(5):436–452. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2018.1452098
Devi, N. N., B. Sridharan, and S. N. Kuiry. 2019. “Impact of Urban Sprawl on Future Flooding in Chennai City, India.” Journal of Hydrology 574:486–496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.04.041
Gashaw, T., A. Bantider, and A. Mahari. 2014. “Evaluations of Land Use/Land Cover Changes and Land Degradation in Dera District, Ethiopia: GIS and Remote Sensing Based Analysis.” International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences 2(6):199.
George, S. L., K. Kantamaneni, R. A. V., K. A. Prasad, S. Shekhar, S. Panneer, et al. 2022. “A Multi-Data Geospatial Approach for Understanding Flood Risk in the Coastal Plains of Tamil Nadu, India.” Earth 3(1):383–400. https://doi.org/10.3390/earth3010023
Jena, P. P., B. Panigrahi, and C. Chatterjee. 2016. “Assessment of Cartosat-1 DEM for Modeling Floods in Data Scarce Regions.” Water Resources Management 30(3):1293–1309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1226-9
Kabenge, M., J. Elaru, H. Wang, and F. Li. 2017. “Characterizing Flood Hazard Risk in Data-Scarce Areas Using a Remote Sensing and GIS-Based Flood Hazard Index.” Natural Hazards 89:1369–1387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-017-3024-y
Kundzewicz, Z. W., S. Kanae, S. I. Seneviratne, J. Handmer, N. Nicholls, P. Peduzzi, et al. 2014. “Flood Risk and Climate Change: Global and Regional Perspectives.” Hydrological Sciences Journal 59(1):1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2013.857411
Lodwick, W. A., W. Monson, and L. Svoboda. 1990. “Attribute Error and Sensitivity Analysis of Map Operations in Geographical Information Systems: Suitability Analysis.” International Journal of Geographical Information System 4(4):413–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/02693799008941556
Mahmoud, S. H., and T. Y. Gan. 2018. “Urbanization and Climate Change Implications in Flood Risk Management: Developing an Efficient Decision Support System for Flood Susceptibility Mapping.” Science of the Total Environment 636:152–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.282
Mojaddadi, H., B. Pradhan, H. Nampak, N. Ahmad, and A. H. B. Ghazali. 2017. “Ensemble Machine-Learning-Based Geospatial Approach for Flood Risk Assessment Using Multi-Sensor Remote-Sensing Data and GIS.” Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk 8(2):1080–1102. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2017.1294113
Munawar, H. S., A. W. Hammad, and S. T. Waller. 2022. “Remote Sensing Methods for Flood Prediction: A Review.” Sensors 22(3):960. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22030960
Murayama, Y., R. C. Estoque, S. Subasinghe, H. Hou, and H. Gong. 2015. Land-Use/Land-Cover Changes in Major Asian and African Cities. Annual report on the multi-use social and economy data bank, 92. http://giswin.geo.tsukuba.ac.jp/capital-cities/data/2015_capital_project_report.pdf
Narayani, A. R., R. Nagalakshmi, and D. Pakrasi. 2023. “Application of Geoinformatics to Classify Landcover from Satellite Imagery Using NDVI: A Case of Peri-Urban Regions of Southern Chennai.” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1210(1):012034.
Natarajan, L., T. Usha, M. Gowrappan, B. Palpanabhan Kasthuri, P. Moorthy, and L. Chokkalingam. 2021. “Flood Susceptibility Analysis in Chennai Corporation Using Frequency Ratio Model.” Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing 49:1533–1543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-021-01331-8
Ramachandran, A., K. Palanivelu, B. V. Mudgal, A. Jeganathan, S. Guganesh, B. Abinaya, and A. Elangovan. 2019. “Climate Change Impact on Fluvial Flooding in the Indian Sub-Basin: A Case Study on the Adyar Sub-Basin.” PLOS ONE 14(5):e0216461. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216461
Saha, A. K., and S. Agrawal. 2020. “Mapping and Assessment of Flood Risk in Prayagraj District, India: A GIS and Remote Sensing Study.” Nanotechnology for Environmental Engineering 5:1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41204-020-00073-1
Saltelli, A., M. Ratto, T. Andres, F. Campolongo, J. Cariboni, D. Gatelli, et al. 2008. Global Sensitivity Analysis: The Primer. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Sankhala, S., and B. Singh. 2014. “Evaluation of Urban Sprawl and Land Use Land Cover Change Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques: A Case Study of Jaipur City, India.” International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering 4(1):66–72.
Saravanan, S., and D. Abijith. 2022. “Flood Susceptibility Mapping of Northeast Coastal Districts of Tamil Nadu, India Using Multi-Source Geospatial Data and Machine Learning Techniques.” Geocarto International 37(27):15252–15281. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2022.2096702
Selvam, R. A., and A. R. Antony Jebamalai. 2023. “Application of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for Flood Susceptibility Mapping Using GIS Techniques in Thamirabarani River Basin, Southern India.” Natural Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06037-3
Thirumurugan, P., and M. Krishnaveni. 2019. “Flood Hazard Mapping Using Geospatial Techniques and Satellite Images: A Case Study of Coastal District of Tamil Nadu.” Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 191:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7327-1
Twumasi, Y. A., E. C. Merem, T. Ayala-Silva, A. Osei, B. M. Petja, and K. Alexander. 2017. “Techniques of Remote Sensing and GIS as Tools for Visualizing Impact of Climate Change-Induced Flood in the Southern African Region.” American Journal of Climate Change 6(2):306–327. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajcc.2017.62016
Wang, X., and H. Xie. 2018. “A Review on Applications of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Water Resources and Flood Risk Management.” Water 10(5):608. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050608
Youssef, A. M., B. Pradhan, and A. M. Hassan. 2011. “Flash Flood Risk Estimation along the St. Katherine Road, Southern Sinai, Egypt Using GIS-Based Morphometry and Satellite Imagery.” Environmental Earth Sciences 62(3):611–623. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-010-0551-1
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Geomatics
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
