Using GIS to Assess Natural Hazards in NW Vietnam

Nguyen Dinh Minh

VNU University of Science, Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract: Natural hazards occur annually and are expected to become more frequent with more losses of life and property under a changing climate in different geographic regions and provinces of Vietnam, a tropical, populous and mountainous country in SE Asia. In such context, assessments of natural hazards using geoinformatics in Vietnam have really attracted an increasing attention of many scientists and managers. This paper provides an example of GIS application to assess earthquakes, flash floods and landslides as major types of natural hazards reported in three mountainous provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La and Dien Bien in NW Vietnam. The reported natural hazard data were collected online and offline from a variety of sources. The collected data were reviewed and entered to develop a natural hazard database for all the three provinces. Selected GIS analysis techniques were applied to derive new information on the location, extent, causes and consequences of natural hazards based on data integration. This GIS analysis model proves the utility of GIS as an effective tool for systematic assessments of natural hazards at provincial and regional levels. It can be applied to other

provinces and regions in Vietnam for natural hazard research and management for sustainable development in the context of climate change.

Key words: GIS, natural hazards, earthquakes, flash floods, landslides