Assessment of Natural Hazards in the Ukrainian Carpathians

Abstract

Summary Ukraine is characterized by active natural hazards processes within different structural and tectonic and landscape-climatic zones. Landslides and debris flows are the major natural hazard in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Increasing resilience against landslide and debris flow hazard is a top priority for the Ukrainian government and national environmental agencies due to the high damages to people and infrastructure caused by these processes. Landslides and debris flows disrupt sustainable development of the Carpathian region and cause many accidents. Increasing human occupation of the attractive mountain areas over the past decades has increased the need to better understand the landslide and debris flows processes and to predict their formation. The integrated technique of modeling of natural hazards impact on the infrastructure has been proposed. It is based on the spatial GIS-analysis and numerical modelling. A better understanding of potential risk factors associated with technical, geological, and management aspects of infrastructure is equally important to minimize the risk of infrastructure failures.