Abstract
The aim of this study was to develop a regional landslide stability analysis method considering the combined impact of rainfall and the roots of vegetation in densely vegetated areas. A typical mountainous watershed in the Nanling National Nature Reserve of South China was chosen as the study area. First, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) method was used to obtain surface element information including topography, vegetation, and landslides. Five main plant species were identified. The RipRoot model was then used to calculate the additional cohesion of these five plant species, and the relationship between the root systems of the different plant species and the soil shear strength was subsequently revealed. Finally, the root cohesion was introduced into the stability index mapping model (SINMAP), and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) method was used to calculate the accuracy of slope stability when considering only soil cohesion as well as the composite cohesion of both soil and roots. The results showed significant differences in the root cohesion of different plants in the study area and a significant increase in the calculation accuracy (from 90% to 95.6%) when root cohesion was considered in the landslide stability calculation. These study results not only enrich theoretical studies on the impact of vegetation roots on landslide stability but also provide a scientific support for preventing disasters in mountainous landslide-prone areas.
Highlights
Landslides occur due to the deformation of rock and soil on slopes under the influence of rainfall, human activities, slope topography, geology, vegetation, and other factors [1]
E specific objectives were to provide a scientific and reliable theoretical basis for the mitigation of landslide disasters by (i) proposing a method based on the use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing data of the surface elements of small watersheds; (ii) proposing an improvement of the physical stability index mapping model (SINMAP) model by introducing root cohesion into the landslide stability analysis model (SINMAP) and employing the slope unit as the basic unit; and (iii) producing a landslide susceptibility zoning map associated with different rainfall intensities
We extended the cells in the original SINMAP model into slope cells, and the stability of each slope under the vegetation coverage and rainfall exposure was calculated. e method used to divide slope units was based on a digital elevation model (DEM) generated from the UAV remote sensing results
Summary
Received 20 January 2021; Revised 2 June 2021; Accepted 8 July 2021; Published 20 July 2021. E aim of this study was to develop a regional landslide stability analysis method considering the combined impact of rainfall and the roots of vegetation in densely vegetated areas. The root cohesion was introduced into the stability index mapping model (SINMAP), and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) method was used to calculate the accuracy of slope stability when considering only soil cohesion as well as the composite cohesion of both soil and roots. E results showed significant differences in the root cohesion of different plants in the study area and a significant increase in the calculation accuracy (from 90% to 95.6%) when root cohesion was considered in the landslide stability calculation. Ese study results enrich theoretical studies on the impact of vegetation roots on landslide stability and provide a scientific support for preventing disasters in mountainous landslide-prone areas The root cohesion was introduced into the stability index mapping model (SINMAP), and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) method was used to calculate the accuracy of slope stability when considering only soil cohesion as well as the composite cohesion of both soil and roots. e results showed significant differences in the root cohesion of different plants in the study area and a significant increase in the calculation accuracy (from 90% to 95.6%) when root cohesion was considered in the landslide stability calculation. ese study results enrich theoretical studies on the impact of vegetation roots on landslide stability and provide a scientific support for preventing disasters in mountainous landslide-prone areas
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