Abstract
Hosting precious superb murals and painted sculptures from the fourth to the fourteenth century, the UNESCO word heritage site Mogao Grottoes are one of the most famous sites of Buddhist art. Although several reinforcement projects had been implemented, frequent rockfalls originated from the slope atop the cliff of Mogao Grottoes can be observed, representing a significant risk to both relics and tourists. Therefore, it is important to assess the rockfall hazard of the slope of Mogao Grottoes for the preventive protection as well as to inform future management decisions. In this study, rockfall hazard of the slope of Mogao Grottoes was assessed by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Fuzzy-AHP (F-AHP) and AHP-TOPSIS methods and then the performances were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and area under curve (AUC). To execute these methods, a high-resolution digital surface model was first captured through UAV digital photogrammetry technology without contact. Belonging to four hazard levels (Very high, high, low and very low), the slope was divided into 10 units based on the slope topography. The hazard assessment result shows that 80% of the total slope units are at low rockfall hazard level and 20% slope units are at very high/high level, respectively. Moreover, loose debris and rainfall are confirmed as the most active causative factors. The result of AUC, ROC and recorded rockfall events reveal that the F-AHP is the most suitable method. Besides, this study also holds the potential applications of the F-AHP in the rockfall assessment for many other grottoes carved in conglomerate strata in Dunhuang.
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This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFC1520600) and the National Science Foundation of China (42102330). We would like to express our gratitude to their supports.
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LZ carried out the overall field investigation and drafted the manuscript. YW participated in the UAV digital photogrammetry and data collecting. JZ participated in the design of the study and revised the manuscript. SZ contributed to design the study and discuss the results. QG participated in the design of the study and revised the manuscript.
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Zhang, L., Wang, Y., Zhang, J. et al. Rockfall hazard assessment of the slope of Mogao Grottoes, China based on AHP, F-AHP and AHP-TOPSIS. Environ Earth Sci 81, 377 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10508-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10508-4