Landslide inventory dataset post Hurricane Stan (2005), Lake Atitlan region, Guatemala

Landslides are a global hazard of devastating impacts resulting in thousands of fatalities every year, substantial economic losses, and long-term economic disruption. Examining the frequency and distribution of landslides is important to better understand their associated factors and to identify where future landslides may occur. The dataset described in this article consists of landslides digitized as polygons using high resolution aerial photography collected after Hurricane Stan (October 2005), which caused severe damages in Central America. In Guatemala, the total economic impact of Hurricane Stan has been estimated at US$983 Million dollars, with 719,000 ha of land lost due to flooding, landslides, and erosion. The dataset is provided in shapefile format and encompasses the areas located north and northwest of Lake Atitlan. The digitizing process involved the visual identification of the landslides in the areal imagery followed by manual delineation of the landslides’ areal extent using ArcGIS desktop on-screen digitizing and editing tools. Additionally, a randomized verification procedure was completed to assess the completeness of the dataset.