Landslide susceptibility assessment based on multi-model fusion method: A case study in Wufeng County, Hubei Province

Different landslide spatial prediction maps can be worked out from different landslide susceptibility models. It is efficient to choose the best optimal model or to integrate some models together in order to enhance the accuracy of landslide susceptibility. For the sake of testing the effectiveness of fusion models, the information model, the weights of evidence model and the frequency ratio model were used to predict the landslide susceptibility with the landslide controlling factors, such as slope, lithology, fault, river and road, in Yuyangguan Town, Wufeng County, Hubei Province. Then landslide susceptibility maps from three models were fused through normalized fusion method, principal component analysis fusion method and advantage fusion method. Comparatively, the accuracy resulting from advantage fusion method (90.3%) is highest among all that of other landslide susceptibility maps, including frequency ratio method (89.7%), normalized fusion method (89.3%), PCA fusion method (89.1%), weights of evidence mothed (87.7%) and information value method (87.6%). In the result of spatial agreement analysis, 68% area maps have the same class in the maps from advantage fusion method and PCA fusion method, decreasing the contingency and one-sidedness of single model. The study verifies the feasibility of the model fusion, and can provide a reference for landslide evaluation in the other geological environment.