# Correlation between Soil Moisture Change and Geological Disasters in E'bian Area (Sichuan, China)
###### Abstract  
E'bian Yi Autonomous County is a mineral-rich area located in a complex geological structure zone. The region experiences frequent geological disasters due to concentrated rainfall, steep terrain, and uneven vegetation cover. In particular, during the rainy season, large amounts of rainwater rapidly accumulate, increasing soil moisture and slope pressure, making landslides and debris flows more likely. Additionally, human activities such as mining, road construction, and building can alter the original geological structure, exacerbating the risk of geological disasters. According to publicly available data from the Leshan government, various types of geological disasters occurred in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023, resulting in economic losses and casualties. Although some studies have focused on geological disaster issues in E'bian, these studies are often limited to specific areas or types of disasters and lack comprehensive spatial and temporal analysis. Furthermore, due to constraints in technology, funding, and manpower, geophysical exploration, field geological exploration, and environmental ecological investigations have been challenging to carry out comprehensively, leading to insufficient and unsystematic data collection. To provide data support and monitoring for regional territorial spatial planning and geological disaster prevention and control, this paper proposes a new method to study the correlation between soil moisture changes and geological disasters. Six high-resolution Landsat remote sensing images were used as the main data sources to process the image band data, and terrain factors were extracted and classified using a digital elevation model (DEM). Meanwhile, a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index-Land Surface Temperature (NDVI-LST) feature space was constructed. The Temperature Vegetation Drought Index (TVDI) was calculated to analyze the variation trend and influencing factors of soil moisture in the study area. The research results showed that the variation in soil moisture in the study area was relatively stable, and the overall soil moisture content was high (0.18 \(<\) TVDI \(<\) 0.33). However, due to the large variation in topographic relief, it could provide power and be a source basis for geological disasters such as landslide and collapse, so the inversion value of TVDI was small. The minimum and maximum values of the correlation coefficient (R\({}^{2}\)) were 0.60 and 0.72, respectively, indicating that the surface water content was relatively large, which was in good agreement with the calculated results of vegetation coverage and conducive to the restoration of ecological stability. In general, based on the characteristics of remote sensing technology and the division of soil moisture critical values, the promoting and hindering effects of soil moisture on geological hazards can be accurately described, and the research results can provide effective guidance for the prevention and control of geological hazards in this region. L 2024 14 6685 19 May 2024 19 July 2024 28 July 2024 31 July 2024 31 July 2024 31 July 2024 31 July 2024 320  
to a diverse range of geological hazards. The main geological hazards in this region include landslides, debris flows, ground subsidence, and fissures. Due to the rugged terrain and abundant precipitation, landslides often occur, especially during the rainy season, posing risks such as road blockages. Loose materials on slopes can be washed down, forming debris flows that threaten human life and economic development. Under certain geological conditions, human activities and tectonic movements can induce ground subsidence, potentially causing building collapses. Additionally, crustal movements or changes in groundwater levels can cause fissures to appear on the ground, further damaging buildings and infrastructure. Overall, the geological hazards in the Sichuan region, particularly in the mountainous areas surrounding the Sichuan Basin, present a variety of risks to human life and economic activities.