Cultural heritage sites risk assessment based on RS and GIS—takes the Fortified Manors of yongtai as an example

As the carrier of history and culture, cultural heritage has outstanding value and is increasingly vulnerable to natural hazards and anthropogenic changes. The research on the risk of cultural heritage sites around the world is becoming more and more mature, but the research on Chinese cultural heritage sites is inadequate. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the research on multi-disaster risk assessment of cultural heritage sites in China and to propose an integrated approach to risk assessment based on Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) for the protection and development of cultural heritage. This study identified six threats to cultural heritage sites: landslides, floods, erosion, urban sprawl, fires, and modern road networks. Taking Fortified Manors of Yongtai, Fujian Province, China as the research object, this study collected historical satellite images, relevant remote sensing, and thematic data, used GIS technology to establish a basic spatial database, and constructed a risk assessment system in the study area using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Certainty Factor (CF) model. The risk of Fortified Manors of Yongtai was divided into five levels: extremely low risk, low risk, medium risk, high risk, and extremely high risk. It is found that most of the Fortified Manors are in high risk or above, accounting for 69.28%, indicating that most of them are in a very dangerous environment, and it is urgent to take measures to monitor and protect them.