Landslide inventory verification in the pilot area of the City of Buzet
Field research was done in the pilot area of the City of Buzet with the purpose of landslide inventory verification. The landslide inventory map is a result of a previous phase of science research conducted in the Croatian Science Foundation LandSlidePlan project – collecting data for landslide susceptibility assessment.
Collecting data about landslides for the purpose of creating a landslide inventory map was done using remote sensing, based on cartographic data obtained with laser airborne scanning (LiDAR). Several morphologic maps for the pilot area in the City of Buzet were created as a result of implementing the inovative technology of laser airborne scanning. The specialty of this technology is recording of morphometric terrain under vegetation, which is particulary important for determinating existing landslides because landslide areas are usually overgrown with dense vegetation, covered with bushes or trees.
Field research confirmed that laser airborne scanning and subsequent spatial analysis produced an optimal DEM which enabled the visual identification of landslides in the pilot area in the City of Buzet. The field research also confirmed that most landslides are located in areas which are inaccessible due to dense vegetation.
The contoured landslide boundaries were verified in the field research, and in the area of 20 km2, hundreds of landslides of different sizes were countured precisely in a detailed scale (M1: 100–1: 500) using GIS. In addition to the landslide map, several morphometric maps were derived from LiDAR DEM, which enabled better orientation in the field as well as landslide recognition. Field research of landslides was carried out on about 5% of randomly selected visually mapped landslides in the landslide inventory, and it is planned to continue the process until a satisfactory number of verified landslides is achieved. A total of five collaborators on the Croatian Science Foundation project LandSlidePlan, scientists involved in landslide research, including a doctoral student on the Croatian Science Foundation Junior Researchers’ career development project DOK-2020-01-2432, participated in the field test.