Community participation in flood mapping in the Amazon through interdisciplinary methods

Abstract

Community participation is an increasing issue in risk and disaster management. This paper argues that interdisciplinary methods are necessary for mapping flooding areas. On the one hand, hazards can be quantified and mapped through deductive approaches and methods from the natural sciences. On the other hand, hazards can also be described from the population perspective at a local level using social sciences methods. The methods are successfully mixed with a geographical information system environment. In the first case, important inputs include topographic and slope data for geomorphological mapping. In the second case, timeline methodology can indicate temporally the most severe floods, and a participatory map construction gives the population the opportunity to point out the affected areas. These methods were applied in a case study in the lower Amazon River Region in the urban area of the Santarém municipality. High-resolution images and remote sensing were essential tools. Results show that nine neighborhoods have high and moderate susceptibility areas to riverine floods. Another nine neighborhoods are affected by flash floods. Flood mapping is the first step in risk mapping for the sustainability of regional planning.