Landslides susceptibility mapping based on geographical information system, GuiZhou, south-west China

The purpose of this study is to assess the susceptibility of landslides around the area of Guizhou province, in south-west of China, using a geographical information system (GIS). The base map is prepared by visiting the field area and mapping individual landslide at a scale of 1:500,000 topographic maps. In the study, slope, lithology, landslide inventory, tectonic activity, drainage distribution and annual precipitation were taken as independent causal factors. Therefore, six causal factors maps are prepared by collecting information from various authorized sources and converting them in to GIS maps. The susceptibility assessment is based on the qualitative map combination model and trapezoidal fuzzy number weighting (TFNW) approach. Using a predicted map of probability, the study area was classified into four categories of landslide susceptibility: low, moderate, high and very high. In addition, the weighting procedure showed that the TFNW is an efficient method for landslide causal factors weighting.