Rockfall detachment susceptibility map in El Hierro Island, Canary Islands, Spain

Abstract

A semi-quantitative heuristic methodology is developed to map a rockfall detachment susceptibility zonation of El Hierro Island (Canary Archipelago). The rationalized procedure, which we called non-weighted bounded indicators, is based on overlapping thematic maps of conditioning factors to mass movement, which are appropriately and individually rescaled and then composed by addition to obtain a susceptibility numerical index through a GIS. As the consistency of the geomorphological analysis depends on the expert subjective criteria and the appropriate interpretation of the landscape, the use of this methodology reduces subjectivity and quantifies the degree of susceptibility. The main factors affecting the mass movement phenomena (rockfalls events), also recognized in the field and, therefore, considered in the presented GIS arrangement, are slope, profile curvature, lithology, vegetation cover and dykes density. To calculate the slope threshold or minimum angle characteristic of rockfall source areas, mixed Gaussian slope frequency decomposition is used. The curvature index reveals stepwise areas. Qualitative geomechanical characteristics are linked to a quantitative index according to a volcanic lithological-complexes classification. Both destabilization (root-wedging) and

Probabilistic modeling of rockfall trajectories: a review

“…In STONE (Guzzetti et al 2002) and Hy-STONE (Crosta and Agliardi 2004), different numbers can be assigned to different source cells as a proxy for onset probability of rockfalls. Again, much work still needs to be done to apply susceptibility analysis (e.g., Fernandez-Hernandez et al 2012;Valagussa et al 2014) when characterizing the spatial variation of rockfall sources.…”

Determination and Evaluation of Landslide-Prone Regions of Isparta (Turkey): An Urban Planning View

“…The methodology is based on a heuristic method. The rationalized approach referred to as "non-weighted bounded indicators" relies on the integration of overlapping thematic maps representing conditioning factors for mass movement [56]. This approach is also used for determining landslide-prone regions in Isparta.…”

“…This approach is also used for determining landslide-prone regions in Isparta. Different from [56], as it was focused on the quantification of a susceptibility index for each individual index, this study simply evaluated the togetherness of the multicriteria defined. Additionally, when data on landslide frequency are lacking or unreliable, susceptibility zoning is a preferable choice over quantitative hazard and risk zoning [54].…”

“…This approach is also used for determining landslide-prone regions in Isparta. Different from [56], as it was focused on the quantification of a susceptibility index for each individual index, this study simply evaluated the togetherness of the multicriteria defined. In order not to increase the uncertainty, no ranking or weight was given to any parameter.…”

Rockfall susceptibility maps for New Mexico

“…Two methods are particularly common at these scales. The first entails computer modeling the steepness and roughness of slopes (e.g., Marquínez et al, 2003;Wang et al, 2014), including the protective or dampening effects of vegetation (e.g., Herwig Proske and Bauer, 2016;Fernandez-Hernández et al, 2011). The second involves qualitative ranking systems of various slope or rock attributes, which is particularly popular for roadside rockfall studies (see summary in Ferrari et al, 2016).…”