APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES IN SEISMIC RISK MANAGEMENT OF TEHRAN

Tehran is surrounded by known active faults and the region is identified with high seismic hazard. The high level of losses related to recent earthquakes in Iran (i.e. Manjil 1990, and Bam 2003) is mainly due to bad construction and urban texture. In-depth evaluation of the seismic characteristics of the region in conjunction with urban studies will help in assessing earthquake losses more realistically. The results of such studies are essential to urban planning and the associated risk management criteria. In this paper, our goal is to improve and update the seismic risk map of Tehran. The new seismic microzonation map of Tehran has been generated by IIEES and used in this research. Various urban databases at census zones, city blocks and parcel levels have been acquired and processed in GIS in this research. Remote sensing helps in mapping and visualizing textures on the ground using high definition satellite imagery. It also provides city topography using stereo aerial photography. The data sets used in here include urban features and textural information including building height information and estimated seismic damage functions for buildings. This research also discusses the implementation of vulnerability and risk algorithms using our updated database related to domestic damage curves.