Assessment of shallow landslide susceptibility by means of multivariate statistical techniques

Several multivariate statistical analyses have been performed to identify t he most influential geological and Geomorphological parameters on shallow l andsliding and to quantify their relative contribution. A data set was firs t prepared including more than 30 attributes of 230 failed and unfailed slo pes. The performance of principal component analysis, t-test and one-way te st, allowed a preliminary selection of the most significant variables, whic h were used as input variables for the discriminant analysis. The function obtained has classified successfully 88.5 per cent of the overall slope pop ulation and 95.6 per cent of the failed slopes. Slope gradient, watershed a rea and land-use appeared as the most powerful discriminant factors. A land slide susceptibility map, based on the scores of the discriminant function, has been prepared for Ensija range in the Eastern Pyrenees. An index of re lative landslide density shows that the results of the map are consistent. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.