GIS Based Landslide Susceptibility Zonation - A Case Study in Western Albania

In this paper, a simple GIS-based methodology is used to assess the landslide susceptibility in Western Albania. The methodology is based on the spatial distribution of landslides and of causal factors. This method called bivariate, proposed by van Westen, 1993 has provided good results. Seven factors including geology, slope, aspect, land cover, distance from drainage, distance from roads and precipitation were used. Landslide inventory map is prepared based on topographic and geologic maps as well as satellite images and orthophotos. The relationships between the detected landslide locations and the controlling factors were identified by using ArcMap 10.3. Six classes of susceptibility were identified as follow: No Susceptible, Very Low, Low, Moderate, High and Very High Susceptible. The produced map can be used for better urban planning.