New Landslide Mapping System Helps Reduce Their Risks and Damage

Japan recorded a whopping 3459 #landslides in 2018. To reduce the risks of landslides, researchers have developed a new #mapping system that accurately predicts their damage.

The rising number of typhoons and incidents of heavy rain across Japan has meant an increase in the occurrence of landslides. In 2018 alone, Japan recorded a total of 3459 landslides.

Landslides cause extensive destruction to property and the economy as well as tragically result in the loss of life.

Now, a research team has developed a new mapping method that helps identify landslide disaster risks and predict their damage with high accuracy.

Associate Professor Shuji Moriguchi from Tohoku University's International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), who led the study, says the development is crucial for disaster risk reduction.

"The new method can accurately assess landslide disaster risks across a wide area with high resolution. If put to practical use, it will contribute to a highly accurate evaluation and real time prediction of landslide risks."

Landslides happen when rainwater infiltrates a slope over time, resulting in the stability of that slope decreasing until it gives way. The research team generated a model capable of analyzing this process and predicting unstable slopes in real-time. It was based on a Green-Ampt infiltration equation and an infinite slope stability model.

The model also took advantage of Geographic Information System (GIS) software. GIS allows for the analysis of spatial and geographic data and for that data to be visually represented using maps. Crucially, these maps can be generated across a wide area.

Moriguchi and his team tested their new system on Marumori, a town in southern Miyagi prefecture that was ravaged by landslides during Typhoon Hagibis in October 2019. Their numerical simulations aligned closely to the actual damage, indicating that the model can be applied to real landslides.

 

豪雨による土砂災害リスクの評価技術(令和元年東日本台風による宮城県丸森町の斜面崩壊の再現)

Tohoku University

Contact:

Shuji Moriguchi
International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://irides.tohoku.ac.jp/eng/organization/moriguchi_shuji.html

Published: 18 Jun 2021

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Title: Mapping method of rainfall-induced landslide hazards by infiltration and slope stability analysis
Authors: Nilo Lemuel J. Dolojan, Shuji Moriguchi, Masakazu Hashimoto & Kenjiro Terada
DOI: 10.1007/s10346-020-01617-x