An objective method to rank the importance of the factors predisposing to landslides with the GIS methodology: application to an area of the Apennines (Valnerina; Perugia - Italy)

The present work aims at contributing to further our knowledge on the predisposing factors to landslides as well as proposing a method that allows us to weigh up, as objectively as possible, the influence that the various factors have on landslides in order to construct a realistic map of potential landslide hazards. In order to assess the differential incidence of very predisposing factor to landslides, maps of the various factors considered were drawn up with the aid of IDRISI software (1997). The factors were as follows: the distance from faults, parallelism between the fractures and the landslide scarps, land use, lithology, distance from the streams, orientation and steepness of slopes, orientation of layers compared to the slope. The global analysis of the different incidence of the factors analyzed on the landslides present in the study area was carried out by comparing the respective maps with that of the scarps; in this way the number of pixels forming the scarps which fell into the various classes of the maps was calculated. The result thus obtained can form the basis of an objective assignation of the different ratings to be attributed to the various factors under consideration. In fact, the analysis carried out in this study has shown that the factors act differently and, for every factor, only some of the classes considered have marked importance. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.