New application of open source data and Rock Engineering System for debris flow susceptibility analysis

Sabrina Bonetto,Federico Vagnon,Davide Vianello,Pietro Mosca

doi:10.1007/s11629-021-6814-3

Sabrina Bonetto, Federico Vagnon + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-6814-3

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Abstract

This research describes a quantitative, rapid, and low-cost methodology for debris flow susceptibility evaluation at the basin scale using open-access data and geodatabases. The proposed approach can aid decision makers in land management and territorial planning, by first screening for areas with a higher debris flow susceptibility. Five environmental predisposing factors, namely, bedrock lithology, fracture network, quaternary deposits, slope inclination, and hydrographic network, were selected as independent parameters and their mutual interactions were described and quantified using the Rock Engineering System (RES) methodology. For each parameter, specific indexes were proposed, aiming to provide a final synthetic and representative index of debris flow susceptibility at the basin scale. The methodology was tested in four basins located in the Upper Susa Valley (NW Italian Alps) where debris flow events are the predominant natural hazard. The proposed matrix can represent a useful standardized tool, universally applicable, since it is independent of type and characteristic of the basin.

Highlights

Landslides are one of the most dangerous natural events that affect the physical, human, and industrial environments on Earth (Jakob et al 2005)
The most dominant parameter is the Quaternary deposit (C – E = 14), while the least dominant parameter is the fracture network (C - E = 4). These results can be analyzed in the C – E diagram (Fig. 5), where the shape of the C versus E cluster, with respect to the C = E line, defines the number of crucial parameters necessary for evaluating Debris flow Propensity Index” (DfPI)
This paper suggests a quantitative, rapid, and low-cost methodology for debris flow susceptibility analysis based on open-access geodatabases

Summary

Introduction

Landslides are one of the most dangerous natural events that affect the physical, human, and industrial environments on Earth (Jakob et al 2005). Loose unsorted material of low plasticity such as that produced by mass wasting processes (colluvium), weathering, glacier transport, explosive volcanism or human activities (e.g. mine spoil) may be mobilized as a consequence of a great amount of water (e.g. heavy rainfall, snow and ice melt, dam break events). The system of hazardous conditions generated by the interaction of these geomorphological and geological features, water saturation, and propagation velocity is very complex and difficult to forecast (Skempton et al 1969; Varnes 1978; Hutchinson 1988; Coussot and Meunier 1996; Cruden and Varnes 1996; Lorenzini and Massa 2004). The identification of the mutual interactions between geomorphological and geological features and the socio-economic fabric becomes fundamental for. Sci. (2021) 18(12): 3200-3217 hazard mapping and defining the best risk management strategy (Vagnon et al 2015; Vagnon et al 2019; Vagnon 2020)

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