DATABASES AND GIS FOR LANDSLIDE RESEARCH IN EUROPE

Within the project ''The Temporal occurrence and forecasting of landsl ides in the European Community'' a review of the use of databases and GIS for landslide research has been accomplished. It shows a high pote ntial of these techniques in storing spatial and temporal landslide da ta (landslide inventories) and in applying different modelling approac hes to landslide hazard assessments at various scales. There are three major strategies in European landslide research using GIS and databas e technologies. At medium and broad scales different combinations of l andslide data with factor maps (e.g. slope angle, lithology and geomor phological units) lead to static susceptibility and hazard assessments , which allow probability evaluations for future landslide occurrences . At local scales process models to simulate trajectories of paths for slope processes and deterministic slope stability models are in use. In landslide frequency analysis, temporal database information are cor related with recent and historical triggering factors (e.g. precipitat ion and precipitation indices) to calculate temporal probabilities for landslide forecasting. However, despite encouraging progress in apply ing computer technologies in European landslide research, the potentia l of these tools is still largely untested. Furthermore, it is clear t hat sophisticated technology cannot replace field work, interdisciplin ary research strategies, and critical testing of the reliability of th e model results.