INSPIRE harmonized - Sensitivity to landslides

The sensitivity map for landslides gives a first indication of the sensitivity to landslides at a very local level in a study area located west of Brussels, in the south of the provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders and Flemish Brabant. At the base of the map lies a static model based on logistic regression for rare events. This procedure establishes the statistical link between the location of the mapped (on-site inventoried) landslides and the possible controlling factors. The model was applied in a GIS environment for grids of 10 m by 10 m and predicts the probability of the occurrence of a landslide based on the slope gradient, the orientation of the slope (NW, W, ZW and Z), and the presence of certain lithographic formations (the formation of Ghent, member of Vlierzele and member of Merelbeke, the formation of Tielt and the formation of Kortrijk, member of Aalbeke). Initially, each grid was assigned a probability of preventing landslides. These probability values (between 0 and 1) were divided into 4 classes, resulting in pixels with low, moderate, high and very high sensitivity. Working with class boundaries in itself implies that two values close to each other can be classified in a different class. The model was developed for the Flemish Ardennes, a sub-area of the study area, and then applied to the extensive study area with the same geological and topographical characteristics.