Forum Geografi
Vol. 40 No. 2 (2026): August 2026

Assessing Landslide Susceptibility in Batu City, Indonesia: A Machine Learning Approach Using Google Earth Engine

Muhardi Muhardi (Department of Physics, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, Indonesia
Geophysics Study Program, Universitas Tanjungpura, Pontianak 78124)

Adi Susilo (Department of Physics, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145
Study Center for Geosciences and Hazard Mitigation, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145)

Eko Andi Suryo (Department of Civil Engineering, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145)
Yoga Satria Putra (Geophysics Study Program, Universitas Tanjungpura, Pontianak 78124)
Muwardi Sutasoma (Department of Physics, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145)
Rahmat Faizal (Department of Physics, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, Indonesia
2 Department of Civil Engineering, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145
Department of Civil Engineering, Universitas Borneo Tarakan, Tarakan 77123)

Nur Aini Gama Lestari (Department of Physics, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145)
Rony Prianto Nugraha (Department of Engineering Science, The University of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland 90210)
Andy Anderson Bery (Earth System Processes and Hazard Modeling Center, Geophysics Programme, School of Physics, Universiti Sains Ma-laysia, Penang 11800)
Muhammad Fathur Rouf Hasan (Study Center for Geosciences and Hazard Mitigation, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145
Graduate School, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145)



Article Info

Publish Date
11 Jun 2026

Abstract

This study aims to map landslide susceptibility in Batu City, East Java Province, Indonesia, using machine learning on the Google Earth Engine platform. Five algorithms were used: random forest (RF), classification and regression trees, support vector machine, gradient tree boosting, and k-nearest neighbors. Landslide susceptibility data were collected from 276 sample points, comprising 138 landslides and 138 nonlandslides. The data were divided into two parts: 70% for training and 30% for testing. The conditioning factors initially considered consisted of 13 variables. Pearson correlation matrix analysis indicated that annual rainfall should be excluded to avoid multicollinearity, resulting in 12 predictors used for mapping: elevation, slope, aspect, landforms, distance from rivers, topographic wetness index, soil types, land use/land cover, normalized difference vegetation index, distance from roads, geological formations, and distance from lineaments. Model performance was evaluated using six metrics: accuracy, precision, recall (sensitivity), F1-score, kappa coefficient, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Model validation results indicated that the RF algorithm was the best model. The RF-based landslide susceptibility map classified the area into five classes: very low class covering an area of 60.70 km2 (30.49%), low class covering an area of 29.47 km2 (14.80%), medium class covering an area of 16.21 km2 (8.14%), high class covering an area of 22.56 km2 (11.33%), and very high class covering an area of 70.16 km2 (35.24%). Variable importance analysis showed that slope is the most influential factor, with a mean decrease in impurity of 43.77 (15.36%), whereas soil types had the least contribution. This study successfully mapped landslide susceptibility using a machine learning approach, enabling direct support for disaster mitigation planning and risk-based land use in Batu City.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

fg

Publisher

Subject

Earth & Planetary Sciences

Description

Aim Forum Geografi is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing the field of geography by publishing original scientific articles on spatial issues. The journal prioritizes studies that employ rigorous spatial analysis and geospatial technologies—such as GIS and remote ...