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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">ISPRS-Archives</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">ISPRS-Archives</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">2194-9034</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIX-B2-2026-737-2026</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Towards Transparent Geohazard Model: XAI for Ground Deformation Susceptibility in Rhenish Coalfields, Germany</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ritushree</surname>
<given-names>Dibakar Kamalini</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Baes</surname>
<given-names>Marzieh</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Motagh</surname>
<given-names>Mahdi</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7434-3696</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>GFZ Helmholtz Center for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>23</day>
<month>07</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>XLIX-B2-2026</volume>
<fpage>737</fpage>
<lpage>743</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Dibakar Kamalini Ritushree et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B2-2026/737/2026/isprs-archives-XLIX-B2-2026-737-2026.html">This article is available from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B2-2026/737/2026/isprs-archives-XLIX-B2-2026-737-2026.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B2-2026/737/2026/isprs-archives-XLIX-B2-2026-737-2026.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B2-2026/737/2026/isprs-archives-XLIX-B2-2026-737-2026.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Land subsidence is a significant geohazard in the Rhineland coalfields of Germany, primarily driven by large-scale open-pit mining and associated groundwater changes. This study integrates geospatial, geological, hydrological, and remote sensing datasets, including European Ground Motion Service (EGMS) measurements, to model subsidence susceptibility using a LightGBM classifier. The model demonstrates strong predictive performance in classifying four susceptibility levels (Low, Moderate, High and Very High). To enhance interpretability, Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques including PFI, LIME and SHAP were employed to identify key drivers of subsidence. Results consistently indicate that distance from mines and groundwater level are the dominant controlling factors, while faults and lithology provide secondary structural influence. Terrain and land cover variables contribute minimally. The integration of XAI proves critical in understanding model behavior, enabling not only accurate prediction but also transparent identification of underlying physical drivers. This improves confidence in the results and supports their application in risk assessment and mitigation planning. Field observations further validate that high-susceptibility zones correspond to areas of observed structural damage, confirming the reliability of the proposed framework.</p>
</abstract>
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