Landslide hazard assessment techniques for planning purposes: a review

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Abstract Recently, there has been a growing interest, both in the UK and abroad, in the use of land evaluation and hazard assessment techniques for planning purposes. Both engineering geologists and planners have become increasingly aware of the benefits to be gained from these techniques of rapid and cost-effective terrain and hazard assessment. However, the application of these techniques and the interpretation of the information they provide need clarification in order to be of direct use to planners. This paper will summarize the techniques, presently available, of land evaluation and hazard assessment and focus attention on defining the engineering geological and planning criteria that control the success with which these techniques can be used effectively. Land evaluation techniques will be considered briefly in view of the large volume of literature already available on this subject. The paper will concentrate on hazard assessment techniques whose potential has been under-utilized in the UK, particularly for planning purposes. Particular emphasis will be placed on mass movement hazards.Techniques available for evaluating these hazards include, satellite imagery, air photograph interpretation, hazard and susceptibility mapping, surface geological and geomorphological mapping, sub-surface geotechnical investigation and monitoring. These will be discussed in respect of the scale of the investigation or planning objectives and the assumptions, data requirements and interpretative capability of each technique.