Effects of Landslide Sampling Strategies on the Prediction Skill of Landslide Susceptibility Modelings

In this study, landslide susceptibility assessments were achieved using logistic regression, in a 523 km2 area around the Eastern Mediterranean region of Southern Turkey. In reliable landslide susceptibility modeling, among others, an appropriate landslide sampling technique is always essential. In susceptibility assessments, two different random selection methods, ranging 78–83% for the train and 17–22% validation set in landslide affected areas, were applied. For the first, the landslides were selected based on their identity numbers considering the whole polygon while in the second, random grid cells of equal size of the former one was selected in any part of the landslides. Three random selections for the landslide free grid cells of equal proportion were also applied for each of the landslide affected data set. Among the landslide preparatory factors; geology, landform classification, land use, elevation, slope, plan curvature, profile curvature, slope length factor, solar radiation, stream power index, slope second derivate, topographic wetness index, heat load index, mean slope, slope position, roughness, dissection, surface relief ratio, linear aspect, slope/aspect ratio have been considered. The results showed that the susceptibility maps produced using the random selections considering the entire landslide polygons have higher performances by means of success and prediction rates.