Sites of mountain slope failure appearing during heavy rainfalls are discussed from a viewpoint of topographical features such as a catchment area and a slope gradient. With a digital landform model which is composed of ground surface elevation data at every grid point, a catchment area with a width (5m) is obtained by a mount climb method and a slope inclination is defined at right angles to the width as a gradient with a horizontal distance of 10 or 10√2m. An index of a geomorphic driving force defined by the catchment area and the slope inclination (Hatano, 1974) is calculated at each grid point excepting some points on streams where a potential failure layer is eroded by actions of stream water.
The indexes are arranged from the maximum to the minimum and are classified into 10 classes. Each class will have almost the same number of grid points. The classes are designated in order of danger as A, B, …, J, with A being the most dangerous. The method is examined at two different test fields. The results show that old failed sites appear in A-C or A-D class, respectively. That is to say that, only by using a digital landform model, we can point out 30 or 40% of an area as a potential failure site. Field investigations for a depth of a potential failure layer should be made and soil characteristics should be examined at the obtained potential failure sites.
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