Landslide susceptibility mapping using GIS and the weight-of-evidence model

The weights-of-evidence model (a Bayesian probability model) was applied to the task of evaluating landslide susceptibility using GIS. Using landslide location and a spatial database containing information such as topography, soil, forest, geology, land cover and lineament, the weights-of-evidence model was applied to calculate each relevant factor's rating for the Boun area in Korea, which had suffered substantial landslide damage following heavy rain in 1998. In the topographic database, the factors were slope, aspect and curvature; in the soil database, they were soil texture, soil material, soil drainage, soil effective thickness and topographic type; in the forest map, they were forest type, timber diameter, timber age and forest density; lithology was derived from the geological database; land-use information came from Landsat TM satellite imagery; and lineament data from IRS satellite imagery. Tests of conditional independence were performed for the selection of factors, allowing 43 combinations of factors to be analysed. For the analysis of mapping landslide susceptibility, the contrast values, W⁺ and W⁻, of each factor's rating were overlaid spatially. The results of the analysis were validated using the previous landslide locations. The combination of slope, curvature, topography, timber diameter, geology and lineament showed the best results. The results can be used for hazard prevention and land-use planning.