Landslide susceptibility assessment using Information Value Method in parts of the Darjeeling Himalayas

Abstract

Landslide susceptibility is the likelihood of a landslide occurrence in an area predicted on the basis of local terrain conditions. Since last few years, researchers have attempted to analyse the probability of landslide occurrences and introduced different methods of landslide susceptibility assessment. The objective of this paper is to assess the landslide susceptibility in parts of the Darjeeling Himalayas using a relatively simple bivariate statistical technique. Seven factor layers with 24 categories, responsible for landslide occurrences in this area, are prepared from Cartosat and Resourcesat - 1 LISS-IV MX data. Each category was given a weight using the Information Value Method. Weighted sum of these values were used to prepare a landslide susceptibility map. The result shows that 8% area was predicted for high, 32% for moderate and remaining 60% for low landslide susceptibility zones. The high value (0.89) of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve showed the high accuracy of the prediction model. © 2013 Geological Society of India.