Abstract
Landslides can cause severe problems to the social and economic well-being. In order to effectively mitigate landslide hazards, the development of detailed susceptibility maps is required, towards implementing targeted risk management plans. This study aims to create detailed landslide susceptibility (LS) and landslide risk (LR) maps of the Sperchios River basin by applying an expert semi-quantitative approach that integrates the Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based multicriteria analysis and Earth Observation (EO) data. Adopting the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for a weighted linear combination (WLC) approach, eleven evaluation parameters were selected. The results were validated using a historic landslide database, enriched with new landslide locations mapped by satellite and aerial imagery interpretation and field surveys. Moreover, the landslide risk map of the area was also developed, based on the LS delineation, considering additionally the anthropogenic exposure and overall vulnerability of the area. The results showed that the most susceptible areas are located at the west and south-west regions of the basin. The synergistic use of GIS-based analysis and EO data can provide a useful tool for the design of natural hazards prevention policy at highly susceptible to risk landslide risk areas.
Highlights
Landslides are determined as the motion of debris, mass of rock, or earth down a slope due to gravity effect [1,2]
The different types of datasets utilized in the present study comprise (i) geological maps from the Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration (IGME) at 1:50,000 scale [68]; (ii) topographic maps from the Hellenic Military Geographical Service at a scale of 1:50,000 [69]; (iii) satellite imagery (Sentinel 2 scenes); (iv) digital elevation model (DEM) of the area deriving from Terra/Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Radiometer (ASTER) satellite data, level 1A, acquired on 30 July 2003 [70]; (v) precipitation records from eight (8) meteorological stations (Figure 2b), overseen by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (1 station), the Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Climate Change (4 stations and the Public Power Cooperation (3 stations); (vi) soil maps from the Directorates of Forests (Ministry of Agriculture) [71]; and (vii) population demographic characteristics from the Hellenic Statistical Authority [72]
The analysis showed that in the geological map, 61.0% of past landslides are located on flysch formation (37 events), 13.6% on carbonate formations, and 13% on ophiolites (8 and 7 events, respectively)
Summary
Landslides are determined as the motion of debris, mass of rock, or earth down a slope due to gravity effect [1,2]. They are classified among the most dangerous and catastrophic natural hazards, being a significant threat to property and human life, causing several indirect implications such as blocking of streams and aggregation of rivers, flash-flood occurrence, destruction of agricultural land, etc. The preparatory mechanisms comprise general meteorological conditions, geomorphological processes, lithology (ground conditions and rock distribution), tectonic activity (the distance from the rupture plane and the seismic factor play a significant role on determining the landslide magnitude), vegetation cover, etc. The designation of landslide risk areas can be achieved in one (or more) of the following ways: (a) landslide inventory maps, that display (at least) the geographical distribution of past events, followed by associated databases of landslide and terrain properties; (b) landslide susceptibility (LS) maps that refer to the tendency of an area to landslide occurrence—they depict the possibility of occurrence of a landslide event of a specific type at a particular place (where); (c) landslide hazard maps, which define the likelihood of occurrence of a potentially damaging landslide that may take place within a given area and period of time (where, how often, and how large)—this concept contains both spatial and temporal dimensions [8,18,19]; and (d) landslide risk maps that show potential damage or losses to individuals, infrastructure and property [20]
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