Results from frequency-ratio analyses of soil classification and land use related to landslide locations in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria

To better understand factors potentially contributing to the occurrence of rainfall-induced landslides in Puerto Rico, we evaluated the locations of landslides there following Hurricane Maria (Hughes et al., 2019) and potential contributing factors. This data release provides results of evaluations of landslide locations compared to soil classification and land cover, which involved frequency-ratio analyses (for example, Lee and Pradhan, 2006; Lee et al., 2007; He and Beighley, 2008; Lepore et al., 2012; Chalkias et al., 2014). Soil classification data were obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (2018) and land cover data were obtained from the Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Program (Gould et al., 2008). The data presented herewith were produced during a study described in Hughes, K.S., and Schulz, W.H., ####, Map depicting susceptibility to landslides triggered by intense rainfall, Puerto Rico: U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report #####.
Three files are included with this data release. Data files soil_classification_results.csv and land_cover_results.csv provide results of the analyses of landslide locations compared to soil classification and land cover, respectively. A read-me file (readme.txt) provides the information contained in this summary and additional description of data available from the data files.
References
Chalkias, C., Kalogirou, S., and Ferntinou, M., 2014, Landslide susceptibility, Peloponnese Peninsula in South Greece: Journal of Maps, v. 10, no. 2, p. 211-222.
Gould, W.A., Alarcón, C., Fevold, B., Jiménez, M.E., Martinuzzi, S., Potts, G., Quiñones, M., Solórzano, M., and Ventosa, E., 2008, The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project. Volume 1: Land cover, vertebrate species distributions, and land stewardship. Gen. Tech. Rep. IITF-GTR-39. Río Piedras, PR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry. 165 p. https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/560c3b2de4b058f706e5411e. Last accessed 12 September 2019.
He, Y., and Beighley, R.E., 2008, GIS‐based regional landslide susceptibility mapping: a case study in southern California: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, v. 33, no. 3, p. 380-393.
Hughes, K.S., Bayouth García, D., Martínez Milian, G.O., Schulz, W.H., and Baum, R.L., 2019, Map of slope-failure locations in Puerto Rico after Hurricane María: U.S. Geological Survey data release: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BVMD74. https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5d4c8b26e4b01d82ce8dfeb0. Last accessed 12 September 2019.
Lee, S., and Pradhan, B., 2006, Probabilistic landslide hazards and risk mapping on Penang Island, Malaysia: Journal of Earth System Science, v. 115, no. 6, p. 661-672.
Lee, S., Ryu, J-H., and Kim, I-S., 2007, Landslide susceptibility analysis and its verification using likelihood ratio, logistic regression, and artificial neural network models: case study of Youngin, Korea: Landslides v. 4, p. 327–338.
Lepore, C., Kamal, S.A., Shanahan, P., and Bras, R.L., 2012, Rainfall-induced landslide susceptibility zonation of Puerto Rico: Environmental Earth Sciences, v. 66, p. 1667-1681. U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2018, Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Puerto Rico, all regions: https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx. Last accessed 12 September 2019.

Tags: engineering-geology, landslides, usgs-5e2f53f5e4b0a79317d42330
Organization: Department of the Interior