An integrated approach for landslide susceptibility mapping by considering spatial correlation and fractal distribution of clustered landslide data

Natural disasters often show highly heterogeneous character due to complex geo-environmental settings. The spatial distribution of landslides is generally clustered at different scales. In this paper, we proposed a methodology for landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) with consideration of spatial correlation and distribution of clustered landslide data. To quantify the spatial correlation of landslides, a normalized spatial-correlated scale index (NSCI) was introduced. Based on the definition of landslide frequency ratio, calibrated landslide potential index (CLPI) was proposed to account for the effect of landslide clustering. Considering the fractal distribution of landslides, the variable fractal dimension model (VFDM) was introduced to measure the spatial association between clustered landslides and conditional factors. Based on the definition of fractal dimension (D), the weights of the factors were obtained from fractal perspective. We proposed a weighted calibrated landslide potential model (WCLPM), obtained by the combination of CLPI values and weights of the factors. The proposed method is illustrated by example in Xinjiang, NW China, where landslide points are clustered at regional scale. In the example, the landslides were randomly split into two groups: one for building landslide model (training dataset) and the other for validating the model (validating dataset). Five landslide conditional factors (lithology, tectonic faults, elevation, slope, aspect) were selected, processed, and analyzed in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. Predictive accuracy of the WCLPM was evaluated and compared based on the calculation of area under the prediction-rate curve (AUPRC). The example shows that the proposed WCLPM provides good prediction for the study area (AUPRC = 0.8700). This study provided a novel and practical method for LSM.