Preliminary landslide mapping in Greenland

Svennevig, Kristian

doi:10.34194/geusb-201943-02-07

Cited by 21 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…A similar approach could also be implimented to quantify activity in other remote areas that are prone to landslides. An obvious candidate is the south coast of the Nuussuaq peninsular where several catastrophical historical and prehistorical landsides are known to have occurred (Pedersen et al 2002;Dahl-Jensen et al 2004;Svennevig 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multidisciplinary approach to landslide monitoring in the Arctic: Case study of the March 2018 ML 1.9 seismic event near the Karrat 2017 landslide

et al. 2019

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The landslide of 17 June 2017 at Karrat Fjord, central West Greenland, triggered a tsunami that caused four fatalities. The catastrophe highlighted the need for a better understanding of landslides in Greenland and initiated a recent nationwide landslide screening project led by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS; see also Svennevig (2019) this volume). This paper describes an approach for compiling freely available data to improve GEUS' capability to monitor active landslides in remote areas of the Arctic in near real time. Data include seismological records, spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data and multispectral optical satellite imagery. The workflow was developed in 2018 as part of a collaboration between GEUS and scientists from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). This methodology provides a model through which GEUS will be able to monitor active landslides and provide relevant knowledge to the public and authorities in the event of future landslides that pose a risk to human life and infrastructure in Greenland. We use a minor event on 26 March 2018, near the site of the Karrat 2017 landslide, as a case study to demonstrate 1) the value of multidisciplinary approaches and 2) that the area around the landslide has continued to be periodically active since the main landslide in 2017.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multidisciplinary approach to landslide monitoring in the Arctic: Case study of the March 2018 ML 1.9 seismic event near the Karrat 2017 landslide

et al. 2019

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“…Two tsunami-generating rock avalanches in 1952 and 2000 are described from Vaigat, 150 km to the south of Karrat (Pedersen et al, 2002;Dahl-Jensen et al, 2004). Svennevig (2019) described morphological evidence of several Holocene rock slope failures in the region but noted that the majority of these were located in the area of the Cretaceous-Paleogene Nuussuaq Basin, where the 1952 and 2000 rock avalanches also occurred. The geological province where the 2017 rock avalanche occurred was found to have had relatively few rock slope failures (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the launch of Landsat 8 and Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites, optical and ground motion data over Greenland are both free and frequent and at sufficient resolution, providing a means of observing unstable slopes at relatively low cost. Svennevig et al (2019) preliminarily described a multidisciplinary approach combining satellite data and seismic observations to remotely study activity on an unstable slope. They found that by combining these methods it was possible to reliably detect timing (seismic observations), location, extent, and deformational rates (optical images and ground motion observations from DInSAR (differential interferometric synthetic-aperture radar)) of rock slope failures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of events before and after the 17 June 2017 rock avalanche at Karrat Fjord, West Greenland – a multidisciplinary approach to detecting and locating unstable rock slopes in a remote Arctic area

et al. 2020

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Abstract. The 17 June 2017 rock avalanche in the Karrat Fjord, West Greenland, caused a tsunami that flooded the nearby village of Nuugaatsiaq and killed four people. The disaster was entirely unexpected since no previous records of large rock slope failures were known in the region, and it highlighted the need for better knowledge of potentially hazardous rock slopes in remote Arctic regions. The aim of the paper is to explore our ability to detect and locate unstable rock slopes in remote Arctic regions with difficult access. We test this by examining the case of the 17 June 2017 Karrat rock avalanche. The workflow we apply is based on a multidisciplinary analysis of freely available data comprising seismological records, Sentinel-1 spaceborne synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) data, and Landsat and Sentinel-2 optical satellite imagery, ground-truthed with limited fieldwork. Using this workflow enables us to reconstruct a timeline of rock slope failures on the coastal slope here collectively termed the Karrat Landslide Complex. Our analyses show that at least three recent rock avalanches occurred in the Karrat Landslide Complex: Karrat 2009, Karrat 2016, and Karrat 2017. The latter is the source of the abovementioned tsunami, whereas the first two are described here in detail for the first time. All three are interpreted as having initiated as dip-slope failures. In addition to the recent rock avalanches, older rock avalanche deposits are observed, demonstrating older (Holocene) periods of activity. Furthermore, three larger unstable rock slopes that may pose a future hazard are described. A number of non-tectonic seismic events confined to the area are interpreted as recording rock slope failures. The structural setting of the Karrat Landslide Complex, namely dip slope, is probably the main conditioning factor for the past and present activity, and, based on the temporal distribution of events in the area, we speculate that the possible trigger for rock slope failures is permafrost degradation caused by climate warming. The results of the present work highlight the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach, based on freely available data, to studying unstable rock slopes in remote Arctic areas under difficult logistical field conditions and demonstrate the importance of identifying minor precursor events to identify areas of future hazard.

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“…But most of the time they are only available for limited areas (Guzzetti et al 2012). Moreover, inventories should be regularly updated, complemented by historical databases to consider the geographical distribution of past (Svennevig 2019) and recent landslides in different time periods (location of the hazard initiation and extension, age…). The regular updating of inventories is also complicated and requires large effort (Bell et al 2012;Burns and Madin 2009;Burns et al 2012;Galli et al 2008;Guzzetti et al 2012) especially for inaccessible high altitude areas (Du et al 2020).…”

Section: Earth Observation Data and Methods For Landslide Detection Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote Sensing for Assessing Landslides and Associated Hazards

et al. 2020

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Multi-platform remote sensing using space-, airborne and ground-based sensors has become essential tools for landslide assessment and disaster-risk prevention. Over the last 30 years, the multiplicity of Earth Observation satellites mission ensures uninterrupted optical and radar imagery archives. With the popularization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, free optical and radar imagery with high revisiting time, ground and aerial possibilities to perform high-resolution 3D point clouds and derived digital elevation models, it can make it difficult to choose the appropriate method for risk assessment. The aim of this paper is to review the mainstream remote-sensing methods commonly employed for landslide assessment, as well as processing. The purpose is to understand how remote-sensing techniques can be useful for landslide hazard detection and monitoring taking into consideration several constraints such as field location or costs of surveys. First we focus on the suitability of terrestrial, aerial and spaceborne systems that have been widely used for landslide assessment to underline their benefits and drawbacks for data acquisition, processing and interpretation. Several examples of application are presented such as Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), lasergrammetry, Terrestrial Optical Photogrammetry. Some of these techniques are unsuitable for slow moving landslides, others limited to large areas and others to local investigations. It can be complicated to select the most appropriate system. Today, the key for understanding landslides is the complementarity of methods and the automation of the data processing. All the mentioned approaches can be coupled (from field monitoring to satellite images analysis) to improve risk management, and the real challenge is to improve automatic solution for landslide recognition and monitoring for the implementation of near real-time emergency systems.

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Preliminary landslide mapping in Greenland

Cited by 21 publications

References 12 publications

A multidisciplinary approach to landslide monitoring in the Arctic: Case study of the March 2018 ML 1.9 seismic event near the Karrat 2017 landslide

A multidisciplinary approach to landslide monitoring in the Arctic: Case study of the March 2018 ML 1.9 seismic event near the Karrat 2017 landslide

Evolution of events before and after the 17 June 2017 rock avalanche at Karrat Fjord, West Greenland – a multidisciplinary approach to detecting and locating unstable rock slopes in a remote Arctic area

Remote Sensing for Assessing Landslides and Associated Hazards

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