A Comparative Study of the Frequency Ratio and Evidential Belief Function Models for Landslide Susceptibility Mapping

Abstract

The goal of this study was to analyze landslide susceptibility using two different models and compare the results. For this purpose, a landslide inventory map was produced from a field survey, and the inventory was divided into two groups for training and validation, respectively. Sixteen landslide conditioning factors were considered. The relationships between landslide occurrence and landslide conditioning factors were analyzed using the FR (Frequency Ratio) and EBF (Evidential Belief Function) models. The LSI (Landslide Susceptibility Index) maps that were produced were validated using the ROC (Relative Operating Characteristics) curve and the SCAI (Seed Cell Area Index). The AUC (Area under the ROC Curve) values of the FR and EBF LSI maps were 80.6% and 79.5%, with prediction accuracies of 72.7% and 71.8%, respectively. Additionally, in the low and very low susceptibility zones, the FR LSI map had higher SCAI values compared to the EBF LSI map, as high as 0.47%p. These results indicate that both models were reasonably accurate, however that the FR LSI map had a slightly higher accuracy for landslide susceptibility mapping in the study area.