Integrated Approach for Determining Spatio-Temporal Variations in the Hydrodynamic Factors as a Contributing Parameter in Landslide Susceptibility Assessments

Abstract

Although general approaches to the effect of water on the mechanisms causing landslides have been adopted, the work presented in this paper was carried out to quantify the landslide susceptibility variation in space and time, integrating the soil moisture distribution and routing (SMDR) model and landslide susceptibility concept. The approach proposed in the present study reflects the temporal effects of the saturation degree index (SDI) on landslide susceptibility as a new index to understand the effect of soil saturation. The topographic wetness index (TWI) is a conventional parameter that represents the relative wetness on landsliding. The new proposed landslide susceptibility approach is used in the study area to understand the effect of soil saturation and the emergence of the Dereba landslide in the study area. The comparative results of landslide susceptibility maps obtained from the new approach utilizing the proposed SDI and conventional TWI are remarkable. Accordingly, a new substantial method is proposed using the attainable monthly mean meteorological data to generate monthly landslide susceptibility maps. The results obtained for the Dereba landslide using the proposed method are validated with the other landslide that has occurred in the same watershed. The results revealed that the approach proposed in this study was compatible with the landslide mechanism in the study area and may help to express the water effect in landslide susceptibility analyses.