Impact of topography on in situ soil wetness measurements for regional landslide early warning – a case study from the Swiss Alpine Foreland
<p>Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of in situ soil wetness measurements to predict regional shallow landslides. Increasing availability of monitoring data from sensor networks provides valuable information for developing future regional landslide early warning systems (LEWSs); h...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/1059/2023/nhess-23-1059-2023.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of in situ
soil wetness measurements to predict regional shallow landslides. Increasing
availability of monitoring data from sensor networks provides valuable
information for developing future regional landslide early warning systems
(LEWSs); however, most existing monitoring sites are located on flat
terrain. The question arises of if the representativeness for regional
landslide activity would improve if sensors were installed on a
landslide-prone hillslope. To address this, two soil wetness monitoring
stations were installed at close proximity on a steep slope and on a flat
location in the Napf region (Northern Alpine Foreland of Switzerland), and
measurements were conducted over a period of 3 years. As both sites inhibit
similar lithological, vegetation, and precipitation characteristics, soil
hydrological differences can be attributed to the impact of topography and
hydrogeology. At the sloped site, conditions were generally wetter and less
variable in time, and evidence was found for temporary lateral water
transport along the slope. These differences were systematic and could be
reduced by considering relative soil moisture changes. The application of a
statistical landslide forecast model showed that both sites were equally
able to distinguish critical from non-critical conditions for landslide
triggering, which demonstrates the value of existing monitoring sites in
flat areas for the application in LEWSs.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1561-8633 1684-9981 |