Is Prediction of Future Landslides Possible with a GIS?

This contribution explores a strategy for landslide hazard zonation inwhich layers of spatial data are used to represent typical settings inwhich given dynamic types of landslides are likely to occur. Theconcepts of assessment and prediction are defined to focus on therepresentation of future hazardous events and in particular on themyths that often provide obstacles in the application of quantitativemethods. The prediction rate curves for different applications describethe support provided by the different data layers in experiments inwhich the typical setting of hazardous events is approximated bystatistically integrating the spatial information.     

Parametric studies of physical conditions in the Earth's upper mantle

Seismic body-wave and surface-wave data indicate the existence of a substantial lowvelocity, low-Q zone in the upper mantle beneath western North America. Conditions in this zone are distinctively different from those that are typical of the upper mantle in shield regions. The present study, using Walsh's model for partially melted rock, suggests a common mechanism for low-velocity and low-Q zones. This parametric study also indicates that the pronounced low-velocity, low-Q zone and anomalous travel-time delays of both P and S waves in the Basin and Range Province are consistent with the combined effects of high temperature, chemical composition, phase changes, and partial melting. The observed low P_n velocity in this region is consistent with high temperature, chemical composition, and the presence of a partially molten layer within the upper mantle, but the observed teleseismic delay times result principally from the thickness of the lowvelocity zone. The teleseismic delay-time variations are therefore related to the seismic Q distribution in the asthenosphere. Conditions a few kilometers beneath the Moho boundary influence the P_n velocity; however, the observed correlation among the teleseismic signal amplitudes, travel-time delays, and the upper mantle Q indicates that the P_n velocity is a better indicator of upper mantle Q than suggested by the P_n path alone. This knowledge of the upper mantle seems to account for the anomalous effects of the Basin and Range Province and other regions of similar tectonic nature on observations of teleseismic events. This will provide a practical technique for comparing seismic observations made in unstable tectonic regions with observations made in shield areas.     

Experimental verification of building control using active bracing system

The objective of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of some control algorithms which will be implemented through experimental verification of a seismic-excited full-scale building. A full-scale 3-storey steel building with active bracing control system was tested at a three-dimensional shaking table of NCREE, Taiwan. The active bracing control system was installed at the first floor. Three different control algorithms were used for the experimental verification: static-output-feedback LQR control, modal control with direct output feedback, and static-output-feedback with variable gain. It is concluded that within the maximum capacity of the actuator in the experiment all the three control algorithms performed well and almost 50 per cent of displacement as well as the acceleration of each floor response was reduced. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Frequency‐domain acoustic‐elastic coupled waveform inversion using the Gauss‐Newton conjugate gradient method

We developed a frequency‐domain acoustic‐elastic coupled waveform inversion based on the Gauss‐Newton conjugate gradient method. Despite the use of a high‐performance computer system and a state‐of‐the‐art parallel computation algorithm, it remained computationally prohibitive to calculate the approximate Hessian explicitly for a large‐scale inverse problem. Therefore, we adopted the conjugate gradient least‐squares algorithm, which is frequently used for geophysical inverse problems, to implement the Gauss‐Newton method so that the approximate Hessian is calculated implicitly. Thus, there was no need to store the Hessian matrix. By simultaneously back‐propagating multi‐components consisting of the pressure and displacements, we could efficiently extract information on the subsurface structures. To verify our algorithm, we applied it to synthetic data sets generated from the Marmousi‐2 model and the modified SEG/EAGE salt model. We also extended our algorithm to the ocean‐bottom cable environment and verified it using ocean‐bottom cable data generated from the Marmousi‐2 model. With the assumption of a hard seafloor, we recovered both the P‐wave velocity of complicated subsurface structures as well as the S‐wave velocity. Although the inversion of the S‐wave velocity is not feasible for the high Poisson's ratios used to simulate a soft seafloor, several strategies exist to treat this problem. Our example using multi‐component data showed some promise in mitigating the soft seafloor effect. However, this issue still remains open.     

A constant key length coding scheme for linear quadtrees

ABSTRACT

Although the linear quadtree is popular in both image processing and GIS, most linear quadtree coding methods need in representation a bit length that is proportional to the resolution of images; the proportionality factor is replaced with a constant bit length that induces a more compact linear quadtree. We propose a linear quadtree coding scheme named constant key length quadtree coding (CKQC) that has advantages of easy implementation and decreased memory requirements. The proposed CKQC scheme is developed on the bases of node classification, order of traversal with breadth first and the Morton sequence. The major characteristic is to apply a constant bit length to construct quaternary codes. The bit length of each quaternary code is constant, either four or eight bits, no matter what the resolution of a raster image. In terms of memory space required and duration complexities, the overall performance is analyzed and compared with other methods to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed CKQC scheme. Several experimental results validate the applicability of the proposed scheme.     

Grain size trend and hydrodynamic condition of tirumalairajan River estuary,east coast of India

The estuary can be considered as environments characterized by high productivity and uncommensurable ecological value. However, marine ecosystems are also subjected to high human pressures that increase their vulnerability. The aim of this work is to analyze grain size trend of sediment due to the action of the main hydrodynamic condition. The spatial distribution patterns of sediments were monitored according to season. The grain-size trend of surficial sediments revealed a dominant sediment transport trend towards the eastern and south eastern part of study area. This study shows that there is an agreement among sediments path ways, hydrodynamic condition and the sediment spatial distribution in the estuarine environment. The agitation by waves is an important sorting mechanism in the study area. The findings are based on the grain size trend and also corroborated by short term observations of the estuarine sediment dynamics and transport during the monsoon, postmonsoon, summer and premonson seasons in Tirumalairajan River estuary.     

Mapping landslide susceptibility from small datasets: A case study in the Pays de Herve (E Belgium)

A landslide susceptibility map is proposed for the Pays de Herve (E Belgium), where large landslides affect Cretaceous clay outcrop areas. Based on a Bayesian approach, this GIS-supported probabilistic map identifies the areas most susceptible to deep landslides. The database is comprised of the source areas of ten pre-existing landslides (i.e. a sample of 154 grid cells) and of six environmental data layers, namely lithology, proximity to active faults, slope angle and aspect, elevation and distance to the nearest valley-floor. A 30-m-resolution DEM from the Belgian National Geographical Institute is used for the analysis. Owing to the small size of the sample, a special cross-validation procedure of the susceptibility map is performed, which uses in an iterative way each of the landslides to test the predictive power of the map derived from the other landslides. Four different sets of variables are used to produce four susceptibility maps, whose prediction curves are compared. While the prediction rates associated with the models not involving the “proximity to active fault” criterion are comparable to those of the models considering this variable, strong weaknesses inherent in the fault data on which the latter rely suggest that the final susceptibility map should be based on a model that excludes any reference to fault. This highlights the difference between a triggering factor and determining factors, and in the same time broadens the scope of the produced map. A single reactivated slide is also used to test the possibility of predicting future reactivation of existing landslides in the area. Finally, the need for geomorphological control over the mathematical treatment is underlined in order to obtain realistic prediction maps.