ORIGINAL ARTICLE J Environ Chem Toxicol Vol 2 No 1 February 2018 12 1 Department of Geography, University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2 Department of Water Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran; 3 Department of Civil Engineering, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran; 4 Department of Geography, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran; 5 Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA; 6 Department of Geography, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Correspondence: Kaveh Ostad-Ali-Askari, Department of Civil Engineering, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran. Telephone 989122471430, e-mail Koa.askari@khuisf.ac.ir Received: September 08, 2017, Accepted: October 25, 2017, Published: February 20, 2018 OPEN ACCESS This open-access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (CC BY-NC) (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits reuse, distribution and reproduction of the article, provided that the original work is properly cited and the reuse is restricted to noncommercial purposes. For commercial reuse, contact reprints@pulsus.com A spatal vulnerability analysis of mult-hazard threat in Zayandeh- Roud basin in Isfahan, Isfahan province, Iran Maryam Marani-Barzani PhD 1 , Saeid Eslamian Prof 2 , Kaveh Ostad-Ali-Askari PhD 3 , Shahide Dehghan PhD 4 , Vijay P. Singh Prof 5 , Khairulmaini Bin Osman Salleh PhD 6 V ulnerability mapping assessment is a very important tool in risk analysis, especially in a multi-hazard region. The end product of this powerful tool is a spatial pattern account (including temporal surface change) of not a single hazard threat, but the one which is considered as a spatial-temporal database of the integrated nature of a multi-hazard threat in many regions of the world. This spatial- temporal database can be digital stored or produce maps. Spatial-temporal analysis of the data bases would have revealed a number of overarching features that are pertinent towards effective hazard- threat and risk reduction strategies. These overarching spatial–temporal patterns described the integrative-composite nature of multi-hazard threats patterns in space and time. These include distribution symmetry, clustering, direction tendencies and randomness of distribution. Vulnerability has been introduced as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Since in developing countries, controlling land use is a difficult and requires great sensitivity, a vulnerability assessment framework was designed by the United Nations’ Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (1,2). Due to the notion that Iran is a developing country, it has been constantly facing issues such as urban development and immigration, lack of resources and hazard threats. In this sense, one important issue which might prove very helpful to hazard management is identification of vulnerability areas. For instance, earthquake hazard map is used for assessing level of damage caused by earthquake in USA. This is because the vulnerability map provides information that can lead to reduction of the effects of disasters through safety and environmentally conscious management of land use (3-6). In this regard, one disadvantage of the structural vulnerability is that it is capable of preventing the damages imposed on buildings. So, use can be made of the early/emergency warning by using the simple and advanced technology which leads to reduction of the casualties and damages noticeably. Proper warning, exchange of information and quick communication are required to be taken into account before and during emergencies in the first golden hours. On-time and early warnings can diminish negative effects of disasters. In addition, Classification Hazard Map can be utilized as another efficient tool for the assessment and management of hazards (7-9). Classified hazard makes it possible to detect critical areas with high risks exist. The maps are important for the management of decisions and planning such as prediction and prevention of desertification and the reclamation of degraded lands (10-13). In the same vein, the necessity of Hazard Management Process is felt for assessing hazards, too. Hazard management can be carried out with the aim of identifying critical factors so as to find out vulnerable points or the hazards. Another advantage that classification hazard map can have is recognition of hot spot or critical centers of a hazard. This can prove very helpful since recognition of critical centers can help prevent hazards (14-18). The present study, thus, was aimed at identifying a critical center of hazards and area(s) which are mostly vulnerable to hazard. For this aim, critical center of three hazards, namely desertification, earthquake and aridity have been identified. Vulnerable and adaptive areas have been illustrated in the form of classification map and findings are expected to be used by policy-maker of the basin (19-26). STUDY REGION Land use and urban activities in the Z.R.B. have increased noticeably during the last 5 decades. On the other hand, active threats in this area can alter the morphology and landscape of the zone, which can then affect human activities. So, recognition and evaluation of hazards would help one make better decisions with regard to management approach. The Zayandeh-Roud Basin is located in the central part of Iran (Figure 1). The area of the basin is about 42,000 km 2 . The situation of this basin can also be seen on the map. As can be seen, there is more than one hazard in Z.R.B which is tectonic activities such as the earthquake, desertification and drought. On the other hand, human activities such as using land include land use, population and strategic situation especially in the largest city of the basin, Isfahan (27). Growing population in Zayandeh-Roud Basin (Z.R.B) and growing the need for hazard management in the study area are the most important reasons for the application of risk analysis. In this study, risk hazard map will be provided Marani-Barzani M, Eslamian S, Ostad-Ali-Askari K, et al. A spatial vulnerability analysis of multi-hazard threat in Zayandeh-Roud basin in Isfahan, Isfahan province, Iran. J Environ Chem Toxicol. 2018;2(1):12-19. Like any other country, Iran is jeopardized by many environmental hazard threats and such threats can culminate in environmental disasters with tremendous repercussions such as loss of people’s lives, destruction of national assets, disruption of man-made building, dangers threatening mass population, etc. To stand against this, approaches in hazard management are after finding more pragmatic solution for these repercussions. Moreover, these hazards are associated with desertification, tectonic, cycles of aridity and surface processes associated with wind and water erosion. This paper provides information on the threats and vulnerability imposed on Zayandeh- Roud Basin (Z.R.B, hereafter) in Iran. For this aim, assessment was carried out by overlaying hazards map, human variable, and adaptation capacity map. Results are in the form of classification vulnerability map with 5 levels: Very Low, Low, Threshold Level, High Resilience and Very High Resilience. Based on vulnerability map, most of the Northern, Eastern and North Western parts of Z.R.B were among the most vulnerable parts. Vulnerability on the central parts of Z.R.B took two forms of ‘very low’ and ‘low’ which were because of most adaptive capacity. Key Words: Vulnerability indicators; Spatial analysis; Spatial patterns; Multi- Hazard; Risk management