Landslide hazard zonation assessment using GIS analysis at Golmakan Watershed, northeast of Iran

Landslide hazard is one of the major environmental hazards in geomorphic studies in mountainous areas. For helping the planners in selection of suitable locations to implement development projects, a landslide hazard zonation map has been produced for the Golmakan Watershed as part of Binaloud northern hillsides (northeast of Iran). For this purpose, after preparation of a landslide inventory of the study area, some 15 major parameters were examined for integrated analysis of landslide hazard in the region. The analyses of parameters were done by geo-referencing and lateral model making, satellite imaging of the study area, and spatial analyses by using geographical information system (GIS). The produced factor maps were weighted with analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method and then classified. The study area was classified into four classes of relative landslide hazards: negligible, low, moderate, and high. The final produced map for landslide hazard zonation in Golmakan Watershed revealed that: 1) the parameters of land slope and geologic formation have strong correlation (R2 = 0.79 and 0.83, respectively) with the dependent variable landslide hazard (p<0.05). 2) About 18.8% of the study area has low and negligible hazards to future landslides, while 81.2% of the land area of Golmakan Watershed falls into the high and moderate categories.