Abstract
ABSTRACTThis study presents the use of geographical information system (GIS) datasets and methods to investigate landslide susceptibility in the rugged mountainous terrain of Shigar and Shyok Basins in northern areas of Pakistan. Study area is situated in Karakorum mountainous region where catastrophic landslides occur frequently and pose a serious threat to local living conditions. Landslide susceptibility index maps were prepared by combining four main indicators groups: (1) human induced parameters, which contain Landsat 8 imagery and distance from roads; (2) topographical parameters, which include slope, aspect and plan curvature; (3) hydrological parameters, which contain stream power index, topographic wetness index and distance from drainage and (4) geological parameters, which consist of lithology and distance from major thrusts and faults. These layers were prepared in GIS environment, and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) based heuristic approach was adopted to generate final landslide susceptibility map for this preliminary regional level landslide hazard study. Three different susceptibility zones have been identified in the region. AHP weights with 0.04 consistency ratio were used in the preparation of final map. The final landslide susceptibility map of the study area indicates that the low, moderate, and high landslide susceptibility classes are respectively covering 23.2% (4745 km2), 45% (6737 km2), 23.2% (3444 km2) when distance from roads, distance from drainage and distance from major thrusts and faults parameters were not incorporated in the analysis. Including distance from roads, distance from drainage and distance from major thrusts and faults parameters layers to the final landslide susceptibility analysis shows that moderate susceptibility class is the predominant landslide susceptibility category covering 88% (13,412 km2) of the study area characterized by steep slopes (30°–45°), low positive plan curvature (0–1) and weak lithology.
Highlights
Construction of new roads and highways, expansion of urban built-environment and population growth have resulted in reduction of natural forest covers and raised concerns about environmental safety (Turner & Jayaprakash 1996) because disturbance in the place’s environmental setting may allow various factors to contribute towards occurrence of natural hazards like slope failure, soil erosion, floods, etc
Due to rapidly changing climate, glacial erosion, intense rainfalls and increased population pressure, the occurrence of the landslide events has significantly increased in this region
In the first run, buffered layers were not used in the analysis and the output susceptibility map was divided into three main groups according to their respective level of landslide hazard
Summary
Construction of new roads and highways, expansion of urban built-environment and population growth have resulted in reduction of natural forest covers and raised concerns about environmental safety (Turner & Jayaprakash 1996) because disturbance in the place’s environmental setting may allow various factors to contribute towards occurrence of natural hazards like slope failure, soil erosion, floods, etc. GEOMATICS, NATURAL HAZARDS AND RISK their effects (Marjanovic 2013), and in turn, completely devastate an area. In such scenarios, it becomes really difficult to identify effects of each hazard separately. Like many other developing countries, Pakistan has been frequently subjected to a variety of natural hazards including landslides. Slope failure triggered landslides are the most damaging and devastating in Northern areas of Pakistan making it an ever-present and frequent danger for the people and their property there. Landslides are the most prevalent hazard in the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges due to high topographic relief, active seismicity, accelerated erosion, intense rainfalls, etc. Identification and detailed assessment of this underestimated hazard is needed in effective landslide hazard reduction through disaster mitigation planning and development strategies (Calligaris et al 2013; Ahmed et al 2014)
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