Maurizio Lazzari

By Maurizio Lazzari, Marco Piccarreta, Ram L. Ray and Salvatore Manfreda

Rainfall-triggered shallow landslide events have caused losses of human lives and millions of euros in damage to property in all parts of the world. The need to prevent such hazards combined with the difficulty of describing the geomorphological processes over regional scales led to the adoption of empirical rainfall thresholds derived from records of rainfall events triggering landslides. These rainfall intensity thresholds are generally computed, assuming that all events are not influenced by antecedent soil moisture conditions. Nevertheless, it is expected that antecedent soil moisture conditions may provide critical support for the correct definition of the triggering conditions. Therefore, we explored the role of antecedent soil moisture on critical rainfall intensity-duration thresholds to evaluate the possibility of modifying or improving traditional approaches. The study was carried out using 326 landslide events that occurred in the last 18 years in the Basilicata region (southern Italy). Besides the ordinary data (i.e., rainstorm intensity and duration), we also derived the antecedent soil moisture conditions using a parsimonious hydrological model. These data have been used to derive the rainfall intensity thresholds conditional on the antecedent saturation of soil quantifying the impact of such parameters on rainfall thresholds.

Part of the book: Landslides

By Ram L. Ray, Maurizio Lazzari and Tolulope Olutimehin

Landslide is one of the costliest and fatal geological hazards, threatening and influencing the socioeconomic conditions in many countries globally. Remote sensing approaches are widely used in landslide studies. Landslide threats can also be investigated through slope stability model, susceptibility mapping, hazard assessment, risk analysis, and other methods. Although it is possible to conduct landslide studies using in-situ observation, it is time-consuming, expensive, and sometimes challenging to collect data at inaccessible terrains. Remote sensing data can be used in landslide monitoring, mapping, hazard prediction and assessment, and other investigations. The primary goal of this chapter is to review the existing remote sensing approaches and techniques used to study landslides and explore the possibilities of potential remote sensing tools that can effectively be used in landslide studies in the future. This chapter also provides critical and comprehensive reviews of landslide studies focus¬ing on the role played by remote sensing data and approaches in landslide hazard assessment. Further, the reviews discuss the application of remotely sensed products for landslide detection, mapping, prediction, and evaluation around the world. This systematic review may contribute to better understanding the extensive use of remotely sensed data and spatial analysis techniques to conduct landslide studies at a range of scales.

Part of the book: Landslides

By Ram L. Ray and Maurizio Lazzari

Part of the book: Landslides