Geomorphometric characteristics of landslides in the Tinalah Watershed, Menoreh Mountains, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

A landslide is one of natural hazards that affect humans and their livelihood especially in the mountainous area. The increasing landslide risk due to global climate change and demographic pressure demands integration between disaster risk reduction and sustainability management, for instance, the recently increasing people's awareness of the landslide and its impacts. Landslides occur in particular location regarding both physical and non-physical features of an area, comprising geomorphology, geology, geomorphometry, human activities, earthquake probability, rainfall occurrence, and etc. This research aims to understand the characteristics of the specific land surface that bears susceptibility to landslides using a geomorphometric approach and to analyze the relationship between geomorphometric characteristics and landslide events. The Tinalah watershed is located in Menoreh Mountains, one of mountainous areas in Java where highly frequent landslides occur. Geomorphometric characteristics, derived from DEMs with 2x2-m2 grid resolution, consist of elevation, slope gradient, aspect, profile curvature, plan curvature, and general curvature. The inventory of landslide events, consisting of the location, time, area, perimeter, typology, and activity, is derived from the field maps, local government's report analysis, and interviews with local people. In this research, landslide distribution is mapped using the multi-temporal records of landslide events during 2006-2010. A raster-based spatial analysis reveals the relationship between landslide events and geomorphometric characteristics. Each variable shows the quantitative information of landslide distribution in the Tinalah watershed. As a result, geomorphometric characteristics have the most significant relationship with the landslide distribution in this study area. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.