Spatial characteristics of the rainfall induced landslides in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Abstract

The Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is still undergoing development. Nearly one-third of the geological disasters take place in this region in China each year. Prior to assessing the spatial characteristics of the rainfall-induced landslides in the CLP, it is fundamental to establish a detailed landslide inventory map. This study utilizes GLDAS (Global Land Data Assimilations Systems) rainfall distribution data in the CLP based on yearly, monthly, and the daily precipitation data from 57 rain gauge stations. Geostatistics analysis and Geographic Information System technique combined with information on geological disasters within the region were used to study the spatial characteristics and trend variations of rainfall and geological disaster distribution in the region. The results indicate that a positive relationship exists between geological disaster and the average annual rainfall, correlation coefficient reaches 0.82, with zonality disasters (account for more than 90%) in the loess gullies, hills, and ridges. Seven zones of loess landside distribution were identified based on their landside densities. The spatial distribution of the geological disasters is characterized by a “linear and zone” shape in the CLP. These results provide a useful reference for the study of the mechanism of water-induced loess landslides.

Keywords:

• Landslides hazards
• precipitation
• spatial variation characteristics
• trend change
• Chinese Loess Plateau

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their constructive comments, which significantly improved the quality of this article.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 41672255, 41877232, and 41790444); a High-tech research cultivation project (Grants No. 300102299201); and the Key Laboratory Open Project Fund of State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS (Grant No. SKLLQG1909).