journal of sustainable rural development

journal of sustainable rural development

Zoning of Environmental Hazards in Rural Areas of Western Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Amir Shabani Hosainabadi 1
Davood Jamini 2
1 Master's student, Department of Geomorphology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Geomorphology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
10.22034/jsrd.2025.508315.1214
Abstract
Purpose: This research primarily aims to identify environmental hazards in western Iran, with a focus on flood risk in the Cultural Landscape of Hawraman.
Methods: This study is classified as scientific-applied research, employing a descriptive approach from both a natural and methodological perspective. In the zoning of the Cultural Landscape of Hawraman concerning flood hazards, 12 criteria were used, including slope, precipitation, vegetation density, river density, topographic location index (TLI), runoff, flow strength index (FSI), distance from river, land use, geology, altitude, and soil. Data analysis was conducted using the fuzzy overlap approach and the Sum operator in ArcMap software. The ROC curve in SPSS software was used to validate the obtained results.
Results: The research findings revealed that 34.46 percent of the total study area falls under high and very high-risk zones, while out of the 319 villages in the study area, 282 villages (88.4 percent of all villages) are classified as high and very high-risk zones. The ROC curve analysis confirmed that the model performed reasonably well in distinguishing flood-prone from non-flood-prone areas.
Conclusion: There has been little study done on environmental hazards in rural areas; therefore, further studies utilizing innovative methodologies and relevant criteria are necessary to identify rural areas at risk of environmental hazards. Additionally, conducting studies on smaller spatial scales would provide finer detail and greater applicability in environmental hazard zoning.
Keywords
Environmental hazards
flood
rural areas
Cultural Landscape of Hawraman
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journal of sustainable rural development
Volume 9, Issue 1 - Serial Number 15
Spring and Summer
Spring 2025
Pages 71-82