Global Ground Movement Susceptibility Raster (GMSR) v1.0.2

Raster File

GMSR_v1_Global_Ground_Movement_Susceptibility_0_100.tif

Public Dataset URL

https://secure.engineeringdirector.com/public/map/GMSR_v1_Global_Ground_Movement_Susceptibility_0_100

Product Overview

The Global Ground Movement Susceptibility Raster (GMSR) is a global geospatial dataset representing relative susceptibility to long-term ground movement hazards.

The framework integrates five independently modeled geohazard processes:

• Landslide Susceptibility
• Soil Creep Potential
• Shrink–Swell Potential
• Subsidence Susceptibility
• Seismic Amplification

The resulting raster provides a continuous score ranging from 0–100, where higher values indicate greater susceptibility to geotechnical ground movement processes.

The dataset is intended for:

• Infrastructure planning
• Site screening
• Climate resilience analysis
• Engineering due diligence
• Asset portfolio risk assessment
• Environmental planning
• Geotechnical hazard screening
• Catastrophe risk modeling

Dataset Information

Product Status

Raster Statistics

Interpretation

The observed maximum value of 97.00 indicates that no location globally achieved the theoretical maximum susceptibility score.

The standardized 0–100 display range is retained to ensure consistency across all GMSR component products and the composite framework.

Score Interpretation

Scores represent relative susceptibility and should not be interpreted as probability of failure.

Visualization Standard

The public GMSR v1 0–100 raster is rendered using a continuous susceptibility color ramp designed for global-scale visualization and interpretation.

Color progression follows increasing susceptibility:

• Blue — Very Low Susceptibility
• Blue-Green — Low Susceptibility
• Cream / Tan — Moderate Susceptibility
• Orange — High Susceptibility
• Red — Very High Susceptibility

The visualization standard is intended for interpretation and communication purposes only and does not alter underlying raster values.

Display legends are standardized across the GMSR product family and may extend beyond the observed minimum and maximum raster values. Actual raster statistics are reported within the Dataset Information and Raster Statistics sections.

GMSR Framework

The GMSR framework combines five independently developed susceptibility surfaces into a single composite index.

Component Weighting

Each component raster was independently developed, normalized, and validated prior to integration within the composite framework. The final GMSR raster combines these component products using a weighted susceptibility methodology to provide a globally consistent screening-level assessment of ground movement susceptibility.

Composite Equation

text GMSR = 0.30 × Landslide Susceptibility + 0.20 × Soil Creep Potential + 0.15 × Shrink–Swell Potential + 0.15 × Subsidence Susceptibility + 0.20 × Seismic Amplification

Missing Data Handling

The final composite uses available-data weighted normalization.

Where one or more component datasets contain NoData values, available component weights are automatically normalized to preserve the 0–100 scoring framework.

This methodology minimizes artificial gaps while maintaining global coverage.

Methodology Summary

Landslide Susceptibility

Evaluates terrain susceptible to gravitational mass movement using:

• Slope Gradient
• Local Relief
• Climate Wetness
• Root Zone Soil Moisture
• Lithologic Susceptibility

Soil Creep Potential

Evaluates slow long-term downslope soil movement using:

• Slope Gradient
• Local Relief
• Climate Wetness Index
• Root Zone Soil Moisture
• Freeze–Thaw Cycles
• Wet–Dry Cycles
• Lithologic Susceptibility

Shrink–Swell Potential

Evaluates expansive soil behavior using:

• SoilGrids Clay Content
• WRB Vertisol Occurrence
• Soil Wilting Point
• Wet–Dry Cycles

Subsidence Susceptibility

Evaluates susceptibility to gradual settlement resulting from:

• Lowland Topographic Position
• Wetland Occurrence
• Soil Saturation Potential
• River Influence
• Drainage Position
• Soft Soil Susceptibility
• Hydrogeologic Conditions

Seismic Amplification

Evaluates susceptibility to amplified ground shaking using:

• Global Seismic Hazard
• Lithologic Susceptibility
• Slope Gradient
• Local Relief

Validation

The NASA Global Landslide Catalog was not used during model development, calibration, weighting, or raster generation and therefore provides an independent validation dataset.

The GMSR framework was independently evaluated against documented landslide events from the NASA Global Landslide Catalog.

Validation was performed by comparing GMSR susceptibility scores at landslide event locations against randomly distributed global background locations.

Validation Dataset

Validation Results

Understanding AUC

AUC (Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve) measures the ability of a model to distinguish between documented hazard locations and randomly distributed background locations.

An AUC value of 0.50 indicates no discriminatory power, while a value of 1.00 indicates perfect separation.

The GMSR validation achieved an AUC of 0.893, indicating strong correspondence between elevated susceptibility scores and observed landslide occurrence.

In practical terms, if a documented landslide location and a random global location are selected at random, there is approximately an 89.3% probability that the landslide location will receive a higher GMSR susceptibility score.

Validation Interpretation

Documented landslide occurrences were strongly concentrated within elevated GMSR susceptibility classes relative to randomly distributed global locations.

Approximately 85% of evaluated landslide events occurred within GMSR Classes 5–7, while only 22% of random background locations occurred within those same classes.

The resulting AUC value of 0.893 indicates strong agreement between elevated GMSR susceptibility scores and observed landslide occurrence at global scale.

Component Products

• Landslide Susceptibility
• Soil Creep Potential
• Shrink–Swell Potential
• Subsidence Susceptibility
• Seismic Amplification

Source Datasets

• GEBCO Global Bathymetry and Elevation
• Global Lithological Map (GLiM)
• ISRIC SoilGrids
• NASA FLDAS Root Zone Soil Moisture
• World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB)
• Global Seismic Hazard Model (GEM Foundation)

Validation Datasets

• NASA Global Landslide Catalog

Derived Internal Datasets

• Freeze–Thaw Cycles Dataset
• Wet–Dry Cycles Dataset

Related Products

Primary GMSR Products

• GMSR v1 Ground Movement Susceptibility (0–100)

• GMSR v1 Ground Movement Susceptibility Class 1–7

Limitations

• Intended for screening and planning purposes.
• Not a substitute for site-specific geotechnical investigation.
• Does not predict timing of failures.
• Does not represent actual displacement rates.
• Does not incorporate local engineering controls.
• Does not include real-time monitoring information.
• Validation is based on documented landslide occurrence and does not independently validate all contributing ground movement mechanisms.
• Susceptibility scores represent relative conditions and should not be interpreted as event probability.

Version History

Attribution

Joseph Mazzella

Nicole Mazzella

AtmosphericIQ LLC

Engineering Director, Inc.

Dataset Citation

Mazzella, J., Mazzella, N. (2026).

Global Ground Movement Susceptibility Raster (GMSR) v1.0.2.

AtmosphericIQ LLC / Engineering Director, Inc.

Version Information