Delineation and Land Use Analysis of the Isolated Former Floodplain in the Nakdong River, Korea

For the restoration of lateral connectivity between rivers and floodplains, it is important to find the isolated former floodplain (IFF) and to characterize its land use in Korean rivers which were channelized by levee constructions for flood protection. The aim of this study is to map the IFF and to assess its land use pattern in the Nakdong River, Korea. The isolated former floodplain was explored by being overlapped on a digital elevation model (DEM), digital topographic map and design flood level using a geographical information system (GIS) in the Nakdong River basin. The land use of the identified IFF was classified by land-use map. The total number of IFFs was 384 and their total area was . While IFFs were usually surrounded by mountain forest in the upper river area, they tended to be located on wide plain areas in the downstream area of Nakdong River. The land use pattern of IFFs was mostly farmland (73.9%) and urban areas (12.7%) in the river. The results of delineation and land use analysis of isolated former floodplain in the Nakdong River will be used as a base line data for planning stream restoration.