Utilization of frequency ratio method for the production of landslide susceptibility maps: Karaburun Peninsula case, Turkey

Geographical information systems (GIS) facilitate both current landslide mapping processes and the prediction of potential landslides that may be experienced in the future. Within the scope of the study, landslide susceptibility maps were created to reduce the damage of possible landslides in the Karaburun Peninsula of İzmir province. A landslide inventory map was produced from related databases in the first place, followed by the creation of parameter maps (elevation, aspect, slope, curvature, land use, vegetation cover, lithology, distance to roads, distance to rivers, and distance to fault lines). The frequency ratio (FR) method was utilized for producing the landslide susceptibility maps on a 5-level risk scale ranging from very low to very high-risk categories. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed for accuracy testing. The resulting landslide susceptibility map revealed that 3% and 46% of the study area had high- and medium-risk categories, and the low landslide risk areas comprised 47% of the region. These results provide important inputs to guide sustainable strategic and physical planning processes in the region, which has been declared a special protection area and is a popular destination for tourism activities and energy facilities.