Landslide Susceptibility Assessment Using Mathematical Modeling in GIS for Uttarakhand, India

This research aimed to assess the vulnerable locations of landslide using GIS modeling. This study was performed on Uttarakhand state of India. Most of roads and settlements are lies on sharp to moderate slopes regions. This state has experienced number of historical landslide events that led to loss of public properties. So, there has been need to identify the suspected locations for landslide hazards. This study aims to drive a landslide index and to identify most impacted regions for landslide susceptibility. In the present study two approaches were developed using GIS modeling by considering physical factors of the region, such as slope, drainage density, road distance, elevation and precipitation. At first, an Index is generated using GIS modeling combined with mathematical equation derived using selected layers and second weightage overlay is used to identify the high risk regions. Results are validated with 6536 historical events of landslide, collected from various sources. This study will be useful for the identification of vulnerable zones of Himalayan region of Uttarakhand and the approach outlined here will be useful for assessing landslide susceptibility in other locations.