Author(s)

Halidou Kafando^1*, Blaise Ouedraogo², Vincent Nduka Ojeh³, Andreas Rienow⁴, Aliou Gadiaga⁵, Ibrahim Elh Maman Garba¹

¹WASCAL Graduate Research Programme on Climate Change and Education, Department of Agriculture and Environment Science, University of The Gambia, Kanifing, The Gambia.
²Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
³Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Taraba State University, Jalingo, Nigeria.
⁴Interdisciplinary Geographic Information Science, Institute of Geography, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
⁵WASCAL Graduate Research Programme on Climate Change and Human Habitat, University of Mina, Mina, Nigeria.

This document describes the creation of an informative Web GIS aimed at mitigating the impacts of flooding in the municipality of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, a region that is highly sensitive to climate change. Burkina Faso, which is undergoing rapid urbanization, faces major natural threats, particularly flooding, as demonstrated by the severe floods of 2009 that caused loss of life, injury, structural damage and economic losses in Ouagadougou. The aim of this research is to develop a web map highlighting the municipality’s flood-prone areas, with a view to informing and raising awareness of flood risk reduction. Using the Leaflet JavaScript mapping library, the study uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript to implement web mapping technology. Data on Ouagadougou’s flood zones is generated by a multi-criteria analysis combining Saaty’s AHP method and GIS in QGIS, integrating seven (7) parameters including hydrography, altitude, slope, rainfall, soil types, land use and soil moisture index. QGIS processes and maps the themes, PostgreSQL with PostGIS serves as the DBMS and GeoServer functions as the map server. The Web GIS platform allows users to visualize the different flood risks, from very low to very high, or the high-risk areas specific to Ouagadougou. The AHP calculations classify the municipality into five flood vulnerability zones: very low (24.48%), low (27.93%), medium (23.01%), high (17.11%) and very high (7.47%). Effective risk management requires communication and awareness-raising. This online mapping application serves as a tool for communication, management and flood prevention in Ouagadougou, helping to mitigate flood-related natural disasters.

Web GIS, Flood Mapping, Leaflet JavaScript Mapping Library, Analysis Hierarchical Processes (AHP), Climate Change Adaptation, Ouagadougou Municipality

Kafando, H. , Ouedraogo, B. , Ojeh, V. , Rienow, A. , Gadiaga, A. and Garba, I. (2024) Development of a Web-Based GIS of Flood Zones in the Municipality of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Journal of Geographic Information System, 16, 32-43. doi: 10.4236/jgis.2024.161003.