Risk analysis of forest roads using landslide susceptibility maps and generation of the optimum forest road route: a case study in Macka, Turkey

This study aims to generate optimum forest route. Contrary to the traditional manual methods, a dynamic route model has been developed. Along with a dynamic route model, an algorithm has been developed. In this study, a landslide susceptibility map that was generated by considering eight factors defined for the study area was used to investigate the risk status of the current forest roads. Then, the optimum forest routes are improved by considering potential landslide areas and several restrictive factors. Finally, the optimum forest road routes were compared to the current forest road routes. The results showed that the developed optimal path algorithm enabled the generation of the optimum forest road route. According to the risk results obtained for current forest roads; 559 km of all roads are risky (%37) and 33 km are very risky (%2). In addition, 39% of the existing roads were found to be under landslide risk.

Automated summary

The study aims to generate optimum forest route using a dynamic route model and an algorithm, along with a landslide susceptibility map and other factors. By improving the optimum forest routes considering potential landslide areas, it was found that a significant portion of the existing forest roads are at risk of landslides.