Landslide Investigation through Emerging Technology of Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Abstract

A landslide is an event of a disaster and has adverse effects on every country with varying degrees of impact. The lithology's complex nature, the vast slide area and the landslide's topography make the direct investigation challenging. In depth landslide investigation demands multidisciplinary knowledge, skilled human power and costly testing equipment, making direct investigation tedious and time-consuming. However, an alternative for the direct investigation is needed to cover all the aspects of landslide mechanism. Recently advanced geophysical methods have an excellent potential for collecting landslide mechanism-related information without disturbing them. One such method is effectively used to investigate the soil's subsurface properties as one of the significant threats to stability is rainfall in a landslide-prone area and its resolve is effectively called Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). The present study endeavors to display cutting-edge research on the applications of Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) in the field of landslide investigation. The foremost objective of the study is to present the outcomes of geophysical surveys conducted through ERT, which encompass 1D, 2D, 3D and time-lapse investigations. The study also highlights the advantages and limitations of these ERT investigations and identifies potential challenges that need to be addressed for the optimum utilization of ERT in future research.