Spatial Distribution of Tidal Floods Using Geographic Information System (GIS) in Medan Belawan District

¹ Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Kampus USU 2 Bekala, Deli Serdang, Indonesia
² Center of Excellence for Mangrove, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, 20155. Indonesia
³ Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia
⁴ Research Centre for Ecology and Etnobiology, National Research and Innovation Agency / Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN), Indonesia
⁵ Oceanographic Research Center, National Research and Innovation Agency / Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN), Indonesia
⁶ Marine Science Study Program, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Brawijaya University, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: nurdinsulistyono@usu.ac.id

Abstract

Tidal floods are one of the threats that occur in coastal areas. The impact is felt for the community, as well as other impacts felt for the surrounding ecosystem, namely the mangrove population, where tidal floods that continue to occur can have a serious impact on the community and mangrove vegetation because they can threaten the sustainability of the mangroves. This research uses GIS to map tidal flood inundation areas and determine their relationship with biophysical factors. Spearman correlation is used to determine the relationship between points in tidal flood areas and biophysical factors such as elevation, slope, distance from rivers and distance from the beach. The research results show that the four variable factors are related to the point of tidal flood inundation. Distance from the river greatly influences the tidal flood point in Medan Belawan District, with a correlation coefficient value of -0.100. This is because rivers act as a medium for the entry of water from the sea without any obstacles to entering the land, so when the river flow reaches its carrying capacity, sea water immediately overflows into residential areas.