Integrating machine learning and geospatial approaches for multi-hazard vulnerability mapping: implications for environmental health and contaminant risk in fragile ecosystems


Kuannaxiaer A. Liu J. Kasthuri N.
December 2025Springer

Environmental Geochemistry and Health
2025#47Issue 12

High-altitude ecosystems face growing threats from natural hazards and human activities, intensifying socio-economic and environmental risks. The Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, is a hotspot where steep terrain, fragile ecosystems, climate variability, and anthropogenic pressures converge. This study integrates geospatial technologies and machine learning (XGBoost) to map multi-hazard risk zones and assess their implications for ecosystem stability and contaminant susceptibility. The GIS-based multi-moderated evaluation was applied using slope, elevation, land use/land cover (LULC), drainage density and proximity to roads and settlements. Improved the accuracy of the XGBoost classification by capturing complex spatial relationships. The multi-hazard risk zone map identified five classes with very low-risk zones with high-risk zones cantered near Coonoor and Kotagiri, which are associated for landslides and contaminated mobility, while in the lower-way areas cluster around AU. Combining crisis weakness with environmental fragility, this structure supports durable land-use management, ecosystem conservation and reducing pollution. The integration of geospatial analytics and machine learning provides a strong tool for disaster preparedness, risk reducing and elasticity in ecological sensitive hill districts.

Disaster risk , GIS , Hazard vulnerability , Machine learning , Multi-criteria

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Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
University of York, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, M3J 1P3, Canada
Department of Chemistry, Karpagam Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
University of York
Department of Chemistry

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