Empirical models to predict the volumes of debris flows generated by recently burned basins in the western U.S.

Gartner, Joseph E.; Cannon, Susan H.; Santi, Paul M.; deWolfe, Victor G.

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.033

Cited by 133 publications

(143 citation statements)

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“…The model of Gartner et al (2008) was applied to estimate the volume of material mobilised from basins affected by fire-related debris flows.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We compared these results with estimates obtained using the stepwise regression model of Gartner et al (2008) where V is the volume of a debris flow (m 3 ), S is the basin area with a gradient equal or greater than 30% (2.36 km 2 ), B is the total area of the burned basin (2.36 km 2 ), and R is the total rainfall during the rainstorm (25 mm).…”

Section: Volume Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The absence of plant cover in the months following a wildfire, and associated changes in soil characteristics, can lead to the occurrence of very high erosion rates until the vegetation recovers 6-24 months later (Cerdà, 1998;Prosser and Williams, 1998), with sheet wash and rilling being the dominant erosion processes. The vulnerability of wildfire-affected steeplands to debris flows has frequently been cited in recent decades as the most important form of post-fire erosion, and such flows are capable of delivering tons of sediment in response to individual rainstorms (Swanson, 1981;Wells, 1987;Cannon et al, 1997;Cannon and Reneau, 2000;Cannon et al, 2001aCannon et al, , 2001bGabet, 2003;Beguería, 2006;Shakesby and Doerr, 2006;Gabet and Bookter, 2008;Gartner et al, 2008;Nyman et al, 2011). Debris flows have commonly been related to shallow landslides triggered on sparsely vegetated hillslopes during intense rainstorms, which increase pore pressure and destabilise a portion of the slope (Blijenberg, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fire-related debris flows in the Iberian Range, Spain

et al. 2013

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Debris flows occurred three weeks following a wildfire in August 1986 in the Najerilla River valley in the Iberian Range, northern Spain. The flows were triggered by a brief, intense rainstorm (approximately 25 mm h-1 over 15 minutes) in a small area with steep slopes covered by a deep colluvium of quartzite clasts. This storm resulted in the development of several unconfined hillslope debris flows and the formation in the Pítare ravine of an alluvial fan, which partially blocked the Najerilla River. We analysed the conditions that led to the development of the debris flows, and estimated the rainfall threshold and the total volume of mobilised sediment. Four factors contributed to the debris flows: (i) the occurrence of a rainstorm three weeks following a wildfire, which had removed the plant cover from the soil; (ii) the steep slopes in the area were most affected by the debris flows (slopes > 30º); (iii) the presence of quartzite scarps on the hillslopes, which favoured the occurrence of a 'firehose effect' involving channelised surface runoff; and (iv) the low plasticity index values of the fine material of the colluvium (indices of 7 to 8), which enabled rapid liquefaction. Estimates of rainfall intensity from the peak flow in the Pítare ravine indicated that 81 mm of rainfall fell in 15 minutes, although this quantity was clearly overestimated given the high proportion of sediment carried out during the peak flow. Various equations applied to relatively similar conditions that occurred elsewhere indicated a rainfall-threshold of approximately 25 mm h-1 for a time of concentration of 15 minutes. The total sediment transported by the debris flows was 10,500 m3 (15,750 Mg, 6,800 Mg km-2), and the Pítare stream alone transported a minimum of 4,000 m3 (6,000 Mg, 2,500 Mg km-2). These results suggest that the rainfall threshold for initiating debris flows is decreased following a wildfire such that a typical rainstorm can trigger a severe erosion and sediment transport event. Given the absence of fresh landslide scars on the hillslopes, the origin of the firerelated debris flows in the Najerilla River valley appears to have been directly linked to increased rates of hillslope runoff, with overland having a greater effect than infiltration for triggered landslides. COVER LETTER EXPLAINING THE CHANGES INTRODUCED IN THE PAPER "FIRE-RELATED DEBRIS FLOWS IN THE IBERIAN RANGE, SPAIN"Authors: José M. García-Ruiz, José Arnáez, Amelia Gómez-Villar, Luis Ortigosa, Noemí Lana-RenaultWe have corrected the paper carefully following the instructions and suggestions from the referees, to whom we acknowledge their detailed work, which helped us to significantly improve the content of the paper. For this reason we include a short reference to the referees in the "Aknowledgements" section.These are the changes we have introduced:Reviewer 1 -"The study is too descriptive". We have estimated both the intensity of precipitation and the volume mobilised by debris flows, and also we have applied some equations in order to co...

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“…The model of Gartner et al (2008) was applied to estimate the volume of material mobilised from basins affected by fire-related debris flows.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Volume Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fire-related debris flows in the Iberian Range, Spain

et al. 2013

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“…Gartner (2005) and Gartner et al (2008) examined 56 basins in eight burned areas in California, Utah and Colorado to develop six models based on stepwise multiple regressions. These regressions indicated that debris flow volume in burned areas is most dependent on burn severity, slope angle, and total storm rainfall.…”

Section: Existing Volume Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many models have been developed to predict debris-flow volumes by utilizing a number of different parameters related to rainfall, basin geomorphology and material properties (e.g., Gartner, 2005;Bovis and Jakob, 1999;Cannon et al, 2010;Gartner et al, 2008;Hungr et al, 1984). To this point, these models have provided their user with a single value expected to represent the volume of the debris flow most likely predicted by their input variables.…”

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confidence: 99%

A probabilistic approach to post-wildfire debris-flow volume modeling

Donovan

Santi

2017

Landslides

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As populations continue to move into more mountainous terrain, a greater understanding of the processes controlling debris flows has become important for the protection of human life and property. The potential volume of an expected debris flow must be known to effectively mitigate any hazard it may pose, yet an accurate estimate of this parameter has to this point been difficult to model. To this end, a probabilistic method for the prediction of debris-flow volumes using a database of 33 debris flows in the Western United States is presented herein. A number of

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A gridded global data set of soil, intact regolith, and sedimentary deposit thicknesses for regional and global land surface modeling

Pelletier

Broxton

Hazenberg

et al. 2016

J Adv Model Earth Syst

220

267

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Earth's terrestrial near-subsurface environment can be divided into relatively porous layers of soil, intact regolith, and sedimentary deposits above unweathered bedrock. Variations in the thicknesses of these layers control the hydrologic and biogeochemical responses of landscapes. Currently, Earth System Models approximate the thickness of these relatively permeable layers above bedrock as uniform globally, despite the fact that their thicknesses vary systematically with topography, climate, and geology. To meet the need for more realistic input data for models, we developed a high-resolution gridded global data set of the average thicknesses of soil, intact regolith, and sedimentary deposits within each 30 arcsec (1 km) pixel using the best available data for topography, climate, and geology as input. Our data set partitions the global land surface into upland hillslope, upland valley bottom, and lowland landscape components and uses models optimized for each landform type to estimate the thicknesses of each subsurface layer. On hillslopes, the data set is calibrated and validated using independent data sets of measured soil thicknesses from the U.S. and Europe and on lowlands using depth to bedrock observations from groundwater wells in the U.S. We anticipate that the data set will prove useful as an input to regional and global hydrological and ecosystems models.

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Empirical models to predict the volumes of debris flows generated by recently burned basins in the western U.S.

Cited by 133 publications

References 20 publications

Fire-related debris flows in the Iberian Range, Spain

Fire-related debris flows in the Iberian Range, Spain

A probabilistic approach to post-wildfire debris-flow volume modeling

A gridded global data set of soil, intact regolith, and sedimentary deposit thicknesses for regional and global land surface modeling

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