EMERGENCY PLANNING IN NORTHERN ALGERIA BASED ON REMOTE SENSING DATA IN RESPECT TO TSUNAMI HAZARD PREPAREDNESS

LANDSAT ETM and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data from the coastal areas of Algeria were investigated in order to detect traces of earlier tsunami events. Digital image processing methods used to produce morphometric maps - such as hillshade, slope, minimum and maximum curvature maps based on the SRTM DEM data - contribute to the detection of morphologic traces that might be related to catastrophic tsunami events. These maps combined with LANDSAT ETM and seismotectonic data in a GIS environment allow the delineation of areas with potential tsunami risk. The evaluations of LANDSAT ETM imageries merged with digitally processed and enhanced SRTM data clearly show areas that must have been flooded in earlier times. In some cases morphological traces of flood waves as curvilinear scarps open to the seaside or traces of abrasion are clearly visible.