Locating potential helicopter landing zones in Mount Tahan, Malaysia using spatial modelling

The increase in forest recreation, mountaineering activities, and wilderness exploration in Malaysia brings positive and negative impacts on society and the forest environment. Various incidents due to mountaineering activities in the forested setting have brought to a rise in the need for Search and Rescue (SAR) operations. Due to the limitation of accessibility to reach the wilderness, helicopter use has become a vital function in tropical forest rescue. Landing recovery offers the safest and high-security technique. One of the limitations that the rescue team faced was selecting a suitable area for safe ingress and egress by the helicopters by considering the circumstances and environmental impacts at the accident site. Despite the uniquely fair use of helicopters in conditions such as altitude, weather, and terrain, they can be extremely dangerous. Therefore, an effective method needs to be established to ease the safe evacuation process and reduce environmental impacts on sensitive mountainous area. This study aimed to establish an alternative method to determine potential helispot by using a spatial-based Topographic Position Index (TPI) to automate landform classification (LC). The system for automated geoscientific analyses (SAGA) software was used with an integration of a digital terrain model (DTM) at 5-meter resolution. A map of potential helispot was generated, and their coordinates were obtained within the GIS environment. Field verification showed landform accuracy of 66.7%, which were considered as acceptable and satisfactory. The analytical method and surveying techniques discussed in this study will support sustainable land management planning in a complex forested mountainous area within the region.

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