Mapping geohazards in the watersheds above Leh, Ladakh: The use of publicly-available remote sensing to assist risk management

The town of Leh, capital of the Province of Ladakh, located in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, suffered considerable damage and loss of life following floods and debris flows in 2010. Although the 2010 events have been the subject of a number of important geohazard-related studies, the town of Leh, as well as the rest of the province of Ladakh, lacks sufficient data with which to assess geohazards for purposes of preparedness, mitigation or future planning and development control. Publicly-available satellite imagery has been used to derive maps at various scales depicting geomorphology and geohazards and this has been supported by ground truthing in order to derive a prototype mapping technique for wider application.