Academic Demonstration & Methodology Notice

Terms of Use & Scientific Limitations

Last updated: October 12, 2026

Draft — Pending Legal Review

Important Safety & Emergency Notice

GeoShield is a free student and academic research demonstration. It is NOT an official emergency early-warning system and must NEVER be relied upon for life-safety, disaster response, or property evacuation decisions. Always follow official advisories from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA), and the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

1. Research & Educational Purpose

GeoShield was created as an educational case study to explore decoupled hazard modeling across steep Himalayan terrain in Kullu and Mandi districts. It couples a machine-learning susceptibility model with rule-based rainfall trigger heuristics across a 500m × 500m spatial grid.

The service is provided free of charge for scholarly analysis, scientific scrutiny, and educational demonstration.

2. Key Scientific Limitations & Methodological Constraints

A. Susceptibility Score is a Relative Index, Not a Probability

The static Susceptibility Score (scaled 0 to 100) represents a relative comparative hazard index based on terrain morphology, lithology, and historical slide density. It is not an actuarial probability, percentage likelihood, or frequency forecast of a slope failure occurring at any given moment.

B. Rule-Based Rainfall Triggers (Not ML-Trained)

The meteorological trigger module is an empirical rule-based calculation based on antecedent precipitation (1-day, 3-day, 7-day, 30-day). It is not generated by a machine-learning neural network or predictive model.

C. Empirical Thresholds Calibrated to Shimla Region

The intensity-duration equations implemented in the trigger logic originate from published research by Singh et al. (2025, DOI: 10.1016/j.nhres.2024.12.004), which were empirically derived for the Shimla region of Himachal Pradesh. They have not been independently calibrated to the specific micro-climates, geological thrust belts, or drainage basins of Kullu and Mandi.

D. Historical Rainfall Snapshot (Static, Not Live Weather)

Rainfall values in the production database reflect a fixed historical observation snapshot as of 2026-09-12 sourced from Open-Meteo reanalysis across five representative weather points. The platform does not stream real-time weather radar, live telemetry, or precipitation radar.

E. Rainfall Simulation is a What-If Scenario, Not a Forecast

Adjusting the rainfall slider (e.g. +10%, +20%, +30%) is a deterministic mathematical sensitivity exploration. It does not constitute a meteorological forecast, storm warning, or future hazard prediction.

F. Landslide Inventory Temporal Uncertainties & Recording Bias

The underlying Geological Survey of India (GSI) Bhusanket inventory includes historical events where exact dates of failure are uncertain or clustered during post-monsoon road clearance surveys. Historical landslide density constitutes the highest-ranking feature in the susceptibility model; unmapped or remote backcountry slopes with sparse reporting may exhibit lower susceptibility scores simply due to lack of historical documentation rather than intrinsic geotechnical stability.

G. Rectangular Grid Boundary & Spatial Discretization

The study domain is bounded by an arbitrary geographic rectangle covering 8,000 km² across Kullu and Mandi. Cells at the boundary margins do not represent the administrative limits of districts or natural watershed ridgelines.

3. Data Sources & Academic Attribution

GeoShield is built using open and scientific datasets. Complete attribution and licensing terms are cataloged in our docs/data-licenses.md registry:

NASADEM Merged Global DEM — NASA JPL / OpenTopography (DOI: 10.5069/G93T9FD9)
Bhusanket Landslide Inventory — Geological Survey of India (GSI)
Historical Weather API — Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0 / ECMWF ERA5)
SoilGrids 2.0 — ISRIC World Soil Information (Poggio et al., 2021)
Population Distribution — WorldPop (DOI: 10.5258/SOTON/WP00839)
Copernicus Sentinel-2 — European Space Agency (ESA)

4. Disclaimer of Professional Advice & Legal Provisions

GeoShield and its authors make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the data, map visualizations, or simulated risk scores.

Under no circumstances shall GeoShield, the the GeoShield Project Team (Aum Lenka and Amishi Kingrani), or its contributing authors be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting from the use or inability to use this platform.

Governing Jurisdiction Clause — Pending Formal Legal Review

A formal governing law and dispute jurisdiction clause has not yet been approved by legal counsel. The Terms of Use and dispute-jurisdiction terms have not been legally reviewed or finalized, and remain a draft pending counsel review prior to public release.

Note: This terms page requires formal review by qualified legal counsel prior to full public publication.