Landslide hazard assessment using analytic hierarchy process (AHP): A case study of National Highway 5 in India

Abstract

Slope failure along highways is a crucial problem in hilly regions. Landslide hazard maps are very efficient and effective tools for planning and management of landslide disasters. Aim of this study is to prepare a landslide hazard map along national highway 5 (197.600–283.200 Km) using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model. The different causative factors of landslides considered in this study are slope, aspect, curvature, relative relief, fault density, drainage density, geology, topographic wetness index (TWI), distance from road and lithology. The causative factors are divided into sub-factors and weightage are assigned according to analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The causative factor layers are overlaid using weighted linear combination (WLC) technique and a landslide hazard map is prepared. A landslide inventory of 215 landslides is used for validation of the landslide hazard map. The map shows a prediction rate of 0.825 on area under curve (AUC) technique. The study can be used by the construction planners and decision makers.