The contribution of satellite SAR-derived displacement measurements in landslide risk management practices

Natural Hazards - Landslides are common phenomena that occur worldwide and are a main cause of loss of life and damage to property. The hazards associated with landslides are a challenging concern...     

Impact of event landslides on road networks: a statistical analysis of two Italian case studies

Despite abundant information on landslides, and on landslide hazard and risk, in Italy, little is known on the direct impact of event landslides on road networks and on the related economic costs. We investigated the physical and economic damage caused by two rainfall-induced landslide events in Central and Southern Italy, to obtain road restoration cost statistics. Using a GIS-based method, we exploited road maps and landslide event inventory maps to compute different metrics that quantify the impact of the landslide events on the natural landscape and on the road networks, by road type. The maps were used with cost data obtained from multiple sources, including local authorities, and specific legislation, to evaluate statistically the unit cost per metre of damaged road and the unit cost per square metre of damaging landslide, separately for main and secondary roads. The obtained unit costs showed large variations which we attribute to the different road types in the two study areas and to the different abundance of landslides. Our work confirms the long-standing conundrum of obtaining accurate landslide damage data and outlines the need for reliable, standardized methods to evaluate landslide damage and associated restoration costs that regional and local administrations can use rapidly in the aftermath of a landslide event. We conclude recommending that common standardized procedures to collect landslide cost data following each landslide event are established, in Italy and elsewhere. This will allow for more accurate and reliable evaluations of the economic costs of landslide events.     

Thermo-hydro-mechanical response of a large piled raft equipped with energy piles: a parametric study

This paper presents the results of a parametric study in which a series of fully coupled, 3-dimensional thermo-hydro-mechanical Finite Element (FE) analyses has been conducted to investigate the effects of the thermal changes imposed by the regular performance of a GSHP system driven by energy piles on a very large piled raft. The FE simulation program has been focused mainly on the evaluation of the following crucial aspects of the energy system design: the assessment of the soil–pile–raft interaction effects during thermal loading conditions; the quantification of the influence of the thermal properties of the soil and of the geometrical layout of the energy piles on the soil–foundation system response, and the evaluation of the influence of the active pile spacing on the thermal performance of the GSHP–energy pile system. The results of the numerical simulations show that the soil–pile–raft interaction effects can be very important. In particular, the presence of a relatively rigid raft in direct contact with the soil is responsible for axial load variations in inactive piles of the same order of those experienced by the thermo-active piles, even when the latter are relatively far and temperature changes in inactive piles are small. As far as the effect of pile spacing is concerned, the numerical simulations show that placing a high number of energy piles in a large piled raft with relatively small pile spacings can lead to a significant reduction of the overall heat exchange from the piles to the soil, thus reducing the thermal efficiency of the system.     

Hazard and population vulnerability analysis: a step towards landslide risk assessment

In this paper, an attempt to analyse landslide hazard and vulnerability in the municipality of Pahuatlán, Puebla, Mexico, is presented. In order to estimate landslide hazard, the susceptibility,magnitude(area-velocity ratio) and landslide frequency of the area of interest were produced based on information derived from a geomorphological landslide inventory; the latter was generated by using very high resolution satellite stereo pairs along with information derived from other sources(Google Earth,aerial photographs and historical information).Estimations of landslide susceptibility were determined by combining four statistical techniques:(i) logistic regression,(ii) quadratic discriminant analysis,(iii) linear discriminant analysis, and(iv)neuronal networks. A Digital Elevation Model(DEM)of 10 m spatial resolution was used to extract the slope angle, aspect, curvature, elevation and relief.These factors, in addition to land cover, lithology anddistance to faults, were used as explanatory variables for the susceptibility models. Additionally, a Poisson model was used to estimate landslide temporal frequency, at the same time as landslide magnitude was obtained by using the relationship between landslide area and the velocity of movements. Then,due to the complexity of evaluating it, vulnerability of population was analysed by applying the Spatial Approach to Vulnerability Assessment(SAVE) model which considered levels of exposure, sensitivity and lack of resilience. Results were expressed on maps on which different spatial patterns of levels of landslide hazard and vulnerability were found for the inhabited areas. It is noteworthy that the lack of optimal methodologies to estimate and quantify vulnerability is more notorious than that of hazard assessments.Consequently, levels of uncertainty linked to landslide risk assessment remain a challenge to be addressed.     

Magmenentwicklung und Dioritbildung im synorogen konsolidierten Grundgebirge des Bergsträßer Odenwaldes

The genesis of synorogeneous, variscian magmatites from the Bergsträsser Odenwald is explained. They are alternating with steep, old metamorphic rocks (schists and schisteous gneisses, partly transformed to plagioclase-blastites). The magmatites are differentiated into an early-orogenic hornblende-basiteseries (gabbro → diorite) and a high-orogenic biotite-flasermagmatite-series (diorite → granite). The hornblende-basite-series is “normally intrusive” with differentiated syntectic members; the biotite-flasermagmatite-series is lithogenic and has been formed by plagioclase-blastesis and anatexis. At the transition to the high-orogenic phase the rocks develop a strong gneissose foliation (due to movements during the emplacement). The structures assimilate, and a protoclastic to primary-gneissic texture is formed. We name the crystalline in this periode of formation briefly “Synorogen”. The diorites from the two series, as well as the dioritoids and aorites (products of “dioritisation”) show converging structures within the Synorogen. The mobile (ultrametamorphic) stage during the dioritisation and granitisation is discussed.     

Maintenance of the fisheries environment and efforts to increase the resources in the coastal waters of Japan

The paper describes the present status of Japan's coastal fisheries resource and the anthropogenic threats to that resource. The increasing industrialization and urbanization of the Japanese coastal fringe has created threats to the important fish and shellfish resource. Legislative mechanisms, such as quality standards, together with an increasing mariculture are used to ensure the sustainable development of the coast.     

Seismic performance and new design procedure for chevron‐braced frames

The paper is concerned with the seismic design of steel‐braced frames in which the braces are configured in a chevron pattern. According to EuroCode 8 (EC8), the behaviour factor q, which allows for the trade‐off between the strength and ductility, is set at 2.5 for chevron‐braced frames, while 6.5 is assigned for most ductile steel moment‐resisting frames. Strength deterioration in post‐buckling regime varies with the brace's slenderness, but EC8 adopts a unique q value irrespective of the brace slenderness. The study focuses on reevaluation of the q value adequate for the seismic design of chevron‐braced frames. The present EC8 method for the calculation of brace strength supplies significantly different elastic stiffnesses and actual strengths for different values of brace slenderness. A new method to estimate the strength of a chevron brace pair is proposed, in which the yield strength (for the brace in tension) and the post‐buckling strength (for the brace in compression) are considered. The new method ensures an identical elastic stiffness and a similar strength regardless of the brace slenderness. The advantage of the proposed method over the conventional EC8 method is demonstrated for the capacity of the proposed method to control the maximum inter‐storey drift. The q values adequate for the chevron‐braced frames are examined in reference to the maximum inter‐storey drifts sustained by most ductile moment‐resisting frames. When the proposed method is employed for strength calculation, the q value of 3.5 is found to be reasonable. It is notable that the proposed method does not require larger cross‐sections for the braces compared to the cross‐sections required for the present EC8 method. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Current motion and short-term deformations in the Suez–Sinai area from GPS observations

We analyze observations from eight GPS campaigns carried out between 1997 and 2005 on a network of 13 sites in the Suez–Sinai area, where separation between the African and the Arabian plates takes place. This is the key area to understand if and in which way Sinai behaves like a sub-plate of the African plate and the role played by seismic and geodetic (long-term) deformation release.Our analysis shows that, on average, the Suez–Sinai area motion, in terms of ITRF00 velocities, matches the African plate motion defined by the NNR-NUVEL-1A model.The horizontal principal strain rate axes estimated separately in the Gulf of Suez area and in the northern Sinai vary from compression across the Gulf (−2.2 ± 1.2) × 10⁻⁸ year⁻¹ to NE extension (1.0 ± 1.5) × 10⁻⁸ year⁻¹ in the North, showing the presence of two distinct domains, so that in our opinion Sinai cannot be considered simply a unique rigid block.The analysis of GPS baseline length variations shows short-term deformations across the Gulf of Suez, reaching up a maximum value of more than 1 cm in 8 years.Since current geodynamical models do not predict significant tectonic deformation in this area, we work under the hypothesis that a contribute may be expected by post-seismic relaxation effects. Under this hypothesis, we compare the baselines length variations with the post-seismic relaxation field associated with five major local earthquakes occurred in the area, testing two different viscoelastic models. Our results show that the detected short-term deformations are better modeled for viscosity values of 10¹⁸ Pa s in the lower crust and 10²⁰ Pa s in the asthenosphere. However, since the modeled post-seismic effect results modest and a certain amount of the detected deformation is not accounted for, we think that an improved modeling should take into account the lateral heterogeneities of crust and upper mantle structures.     

Static versus modal analysis: influence on inelastic response of multi-storey asymmetric buildings

The paper investigates the influence of design procedures on the seismic response of multi-storey asymmetric buildings. To this end, some structures are designed according to methods based on either static or modal analysis, with or without design eccentricities. The seismic response of these systems is determined by means of inelastic dynamic analyses and the design is thoroughly examined in order to explain the results of the dynamic analyses. Attention is basically focused on the ability of design methods to prevent asymmetric buildings from experiencing ductility demands much larger than those of the corresponding torsionally balanced systems. Numerical analyses underline that while design procedures based on either static or modal analysis are suitable for the design of torsionally rigid structures only those based on modal analysis lead to the satisfactory performance of torsionally flexible buildings. Furthermore, the study highlights the qualities of a design method proposed by the Authors. Its application does not require any explicit calculation of design eccentricities and leads to proper seismic response of both torsionally rigid and flexible asymmetric buildings.