Estimation of stress and its use in evaluation of landslide prone regions using remote sensing data

Recently, use of remote sensing data for determining the orientation of stress has been demonstrated. The present study deals with the estimation of stress pattern in the part of the Himalayan region which shows the ongoing neo-tectonic activities. The study area falls into a tectonically active zone of the Central-Himalaya, with a complex geotectonic set-up confined by a number of faults. Efforts have been made to evaluate the technique as a fast algorithm for quick and time limited analysis of linear feature from which the orientation of the lineaments are estimated by using remote sensing data. Further, the estimation of stress and the lineament analysis have been used in mapping of landslide prone areas. Terrain information such as land cover, geology, lineament, faults, mega faults, geomorphology and drainage has been derived from the satellite imageries, and the existing thematic information has been updated to enable the quantification of landslide causative parameters. Spatial and temporal multi-layered information have been used for landslides hazard susceptibility analysis. The qualitative hazard analysis has been carried out using the map overlying techniques in GIS environment along the central part of Himalayan region. It has been observed that the high potential zones have been found to have very high lineament density, moderate to low drainage density and high slope areas of the terrain. On the basis of the geological and morphological analysis, it is further suggested that the combined impacts of the crushed nature of bed rock (due to the neo-tectonic activities), heavy rainfall and lack of vegetation cover cause persistent recurrence of landslides along this region. The role of earthquake on induction of landslides will be presented. (c) 2005 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.