Design and implementation of spatial database and geo-processing models for a road geo-hazard information management and risk assessment system

This paper presents a development process of a web-based road geo-hazard information management and risk assessment system which is named RGHIMS. Two technological fields, the design and implementation of an object-oriented spatial database of geo-hazard and the model building for automatic geo-hazard analysis, were discussed, respectively. In the beginning, this paper presented a detailed description of the architecture of RGHIMS where the presentation model pattern was applied in. Taking account of the attributes and behaviors of road geo-hazard data, an object-oriented geodatabase was created using unified modeling language and computer-aided software engineering tools which were provided by ArcSDE (ESRI). Furthermore, this paper discussed the steps needed for developing python-based geo-processing tools in ArcGIS, and introduced the realization of a landslide susceptibility mapping model based on the spatial database. The system has been applied in Guizhou province (a mountainous area located in the southwest of China) to assist road construction and management units in making decision to control geologic hazards and to reduce human vulnerability.