A novel hybrid approach of landslide susceptibility modelling using rotation forest ensemble and different base classifiers

In the present study, Rotation Forest ensemble was integrated with different base classifiers to develop different hybrid models namely Rotation Forest based Support Vector Machines (RFSVM), Rotation Forest based Artificial Neural Networks (RFANN), Rotation Forest based Decision Trees (RFDT), and Rotation Forest based Naïve Bayes (RFNB) for landslide susceptibility modelling. The validity of these models was evaluated using statistical methods such as Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Kappa index, accuracy, and the area under the success rate and predictive rate curves (AUC). Part of the landslide prone area of Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, Himalaya, India was selected as the study area. Results indicate that the RFDT is the best model showing the highest predictive capability (AUC = 0.741) in comparison to RFANN (AUC = 0.710), RFSVM (AUC = 0.701), and RFNB (AUC = 0.640) models. The present study would be helpful in the selection of best model for landslide susceptibility mapping.