Modelling landslide distribution on loess soils in China: an investigation

Abstract

Abstract Catastrophic landslides are a severe environmental problem on the Loess Plateau of China. In order to establish which slopes are most at risk, their spatial incidence can be modelled using geographical information systems techniques together with a database describing the past landslides. Three modelling strategies, sieve mapping, weighting factors and log-linear modelling, are adopted and compared. It is suggested that the log-linear modelling approach is the most general and makes best use of the available information.