Landslide susceptibility analysis of Ezine Stream Basin (Bozkurt-Kastamonu) with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method

Landslides are natural disasters that occur under the influence of gravity and slope, and are out of human control and cause loss of life and property. Considering the reasons originating from the physical structure of Turkey (geological and geomorphological structure, climate, vegetation, hydrological structure, soil properties), landslides occur in many regions, although there are areas with high landslide susceptibility. Landslides are especially frequent in the Black Sea Region. In this study, landslide susceptibility analysis was conducted in the 375.54304741 km2 area of the Ezine Stream Basin in the Bozkurt district of Kastamonu province, located in the Western Black Sea Section of the Black Sea Region, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. In this sensitivity analysis, 12 parameters (slope, elevation, precipitation, aspect, lithology, soil, NDVI, curvature, land use, distance to streams, distance to fault lines and distance to roads) were determined. Comparison matrices were created between the determined parameters and sub-criteria. AHP was performed by calculating the weights of each parameter and its subclasses. These calculated weight values were assigned to the input maps and their subclasses in the relevant vector format. Then, the maps were converted to raster format and made ready for analysis. Then, the maps with parameter weights were collected and a landslide susceptibility map was created and classified into 5 groups as very high, high, medium, low and very low sensitive areas. It was determined that the most effective parameters in the formation of landslides in the region were lithology, slope and curvature. As a result of the analysis, very low landslide susceptibility was determined in 5263.20 ha area corresponding to 14.18% of the study area, low in 9907.11 ha area corresponding to 26.69%, medium in 9691.38 ha area corresponding to 26.11%, high in 8275.23 ha area corresponding to 22.30% and very high in 3977.46 ha area corresponding to 10.72%. Therefore, it was determined that the total of the landslide potential in the Ezine Stream Basin is under 33.02% landslide danger with high (22.30%) and very high (10.72%) rates. Sharing the results with local administrators, governorships and relevant public institutions and organizations will help minimize the impact of landslides by taking precautions in the region before the disaster occurs.