Application of geophysical methods to the assessment of environmental vulnerability of urban areas
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59531/ots.2025.3.2.115-144Keywords:
pluvial flood hazard, vulnerability index, attenuation of GPR waves, DC resistivity survey, water-permeabilityAbstract
The pluvial flood hazard of an urban area can be characterized by the environmental vulnerability. It is a measure that depends on three spatial factors: morphology, water coverage and the drainage capacity of the ground. Since the drainage capacity is the function of the composition and structure of the overburden layers, geophysical survey data can assist in the assessment of flood hazard.We worked out a methodology for determination the high-resolution distribution of environmental vulnerability using data from two geophysical surveying methods that are applicable in urban areas. In case of the ground penetrating radar method, the surface drainage capacity was linked to the clay content of the overburden. Thus, the attenuation of the electromagnetic waves could be correlated with the permeability factor of the environmental vulnerability. When relating this factor to the data of a DC electric survey we correlated the electrical resistivity values to the dominant grain size distribution of the upper layer. We demonstrate the application of this methodology in two urban field studies in Hungary, where the environmental vulnerability was defined along geophysical survey lines with horizontal resolution of the surveying method. In the first case, GPR method was used to determine the permeability factor and a digital terrain model served as the source of morphology data. The second case was in a flat area, where there was no need for slope data. The permeability factor was derived from electrical resistivity values of a three km long survey line and grain size analysis results of drill samplesKeywords: Bonhoeffer’s family, 19th century, German Culture and Theology, tacit motif.
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