Landslide susceptibility zoning using GIS tools: an application in the Germanasca Valley (NW Italy)

Landslide susceptibility mapping is a fundamental tool for disaster management and planning development activities in mountainous areas. The landslide susceptibility maps produced in the present work represent a step forward in the management of landslide hazard in the Germanasca valley (Western Alps, NW Italy). Landslide susceptibility analysis was conducted using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and a specific ARCGIS® toolbox called ModelBuilder. In the specific case eight predisposing factors were considered: surface and bedrock lithology, distance from drainage, altitude, planaform curvature, profile curvature, slope, aspect and land use. A dedicated MATLAB routine has been developed for calculating the correlation of landslide to each factor using the logistic regression method.