Identification of the affected areas by mass movement through a physically based model of landslide hazard combined with an empirical model of debris flow

Abstract

In tropical areas, mass movements are common phenomena, especially during periods of heavy rainfall, which frequently take place in the summer season. These phenomena have caused loss of life and serious damage to infrastructure and properties. The most prominent of these phenomena are landslides that can produce debris flows. Thus, this article aims at determining affected areas using a model to predict landslide prone areas (SHALSTAB) combined with an empirical model designed to define the debris flow travel distance and area of deposition. The methodology of this work consists of the following steps: (a) elaboration of a digital elevation model (DEM), (b) application of the deterministic SHALSTAB model to locate the landslide prone areas, (c) identification of the debris flow travel distance and area of deposition, and (d) mapping of the affected areas (landslides and debris flows). This work was developed in an area in which many mass movements occurred after intense rainfall during the summer season (February 1996) in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast Brazil. All of the scars produced by that event were mapped, allowing for validation of the applied models. The model results show that the mapped landslide locations can adequately be simulated by the model.

Integrating physical and empirical landslide susceptibility models using generalized additive models

“…Both models and derived approaches such as SINMAP are widely applied to landslide susceptibility mapping (Tarolli and Tarboton, 2006;Meisina and Scarabelli, 2007;Gomes et al, 2008).…”

Determination of Areas Susceptible to Landsliding Using Spatial Patterns of Rainfall from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Data, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Relatively little work on landslide prediction has been done to date in the humid tropics [2][3][4]. Particularly dangerous are rapid slope failures occurring along well-defined shear zones due to infiltration of high-intensity rainfall that fills the voids between soil particles, raising the pore-water pressure that acts in opposition to the normal stress, thereby reducing the material strength and triggering instability [5][6][7].…”

A new hierarchical Bayesian approach to analyse environmental and climatic influences on debris flow occurrence

“…Some deterministic models can simultaneously account for environmental and climatic variables in the assessment of debris flow activity. For instance, slope stability models use geotechnical variables to define debris flow susceptibility related to specific rainfall events (Borga et al, 2002;Fiorillo and Wilson, 2004;Gomes et al, 2008;Tarolli et al, 2011). However, these models are generally applied to catchments with homogeneous environmental characteristics located in the same climate zone, so as to enable the definition of all the required input conditions.…”