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A fractal measure of spatial association between landslides and conditioning factors

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Abstract

Measuring the relative importance and assigning weights to conditioning factors of landslides occurrence are significant for landslide prevention and/or mitigation. In this contribution, a fractal method is introduced for measuring the spatial relationships between landslides and conditioning factors (such as faults, rivers, geological boundaries, and roads), and for assigning weights to conditioning factors for mapping of landslide susceptibility. This method can be expressed as ρ=Cε –d, where d is the fractal dimension, and C is a constant. This relationship indicates a fractal relation between landslide density (ρ) and distances to conditioning factors (ε). The case of d>0 suggests a significant spatial correlation between landslides and conditioning factors. The larger the d (>0) value, the stronger the spatial correlation is between landslides and a specific conditioning factor. Two case studies in South China were examined to demonstrate the usefulness of this novel method.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that helped us improve the manuscript, and Ziye Wang and Yihui Xiong from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) for preparing parts of the datasets. Renguang Zuo thanks Wang Yang from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) for providing a part of dataset used in this study. This research benefited from the joint financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41522206), and the MOST Special Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences (No. MSFGPMR03-3). The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12583-017-0772-2.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Renguang Zuo

  2. Institute of Geosciences, State University of Campinas (UniCamp), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Emmanuel John M. Carranza

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  1. Renguang Zuo
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  2. Emmanuel John M. Carranza
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Correspondence to Renguang Zuo.

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Zuo, R., Carranza, E.J.M. A fractal measure of spatial association between landslides and conditioning factors. J. Earth Sci. 28, 588–594 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-017-0772-2

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