Use of an artificial neural network for analysis of the susceptibility to landslides at Boun, Korea

The purpose of this study was to develop landslide susceptibility analysis techniques using artificial neural networks and to apply the resulting techniques to the study area of Boun in Korea. Landslide locations were identified in the study area from interpretation of aerial photographs and field survey data. A spatial database of the topography, soil type, timber cover, geology, and land cover was constructed and the landslide-related factors were extracted from the spatial database. Using these factors, the susceptibility to landslides was analyzed by artificial neural network methods. The results of the landslide susceptibility maps were compared and verified using known landslide locations at another area, Yongin, in Korea. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to analyze efficiently the vast amount of data and an artificial neural network turned out to be an effective tool to analyze the landslide susceptibility.