Storm rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows from recently burned areas in southwestern Colorado and southern California

Debris flows generated during rain storms on recently burned areas have destroyed lives and property throughout the Western U.S. Field evidence indicate that unlike landslide-triggered debris flows, these events have no identifiable initiation source and can occur with little or no antecedent moisture. Using rain gage and response data from five fires in Colorado and southern California, we document the rainfall conditions that have triggered post-fire debris flows and develop empirical rainfall intensity–duration thresholds for the occurrence of debris flows and floods following wildfires in these settings. This information can provide guidance for warning systems and planning for emergency response in similar settings.Debris flows were produced from 25 recently burned basins in Colorado in response to 13 short-duration, high-intensity convective storms. Debris flows were triggered after as little as six to 10 min of storm rainfall. About 80% of the storms that generated debris flows lasted less than 3 h, with most of the rain falling in less than 1 h. The storms triggering debris flows ranged in average intensity between 1.0 and 32.0 mm/h, and had recurrence intervals of two years or less. Threshold rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows sufficiently large to pose threats to life and property from recently burned areas in south-central, and southwestern, Colorado are defined by: I = 6.5D^− 0.7 and I = 9.5D^− 0.7, respectively, where I = rainfall intensity (in mm/h) and D = duration (in hours).Debris flows were generated from 68 recently burned areas in southern California in response to long-duration frontal storms. The flows occurred after as little as two hours, and up to 16 h, of low-intensity (2–10 mm/h) rainfall. The storms lasted between 5.5 and 33 h, with average intensities between 1.3 and 20.4 mm/h, and had recurrence intervals of two years or less. Threshold rainfall conditions for life- and property-threatening floods and debris flows during the first winter season following fires in Ventura County, and in the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains of southern California are defined by I = 12.5D^−0.4, and I = 7.2D^−0.4, respectively. A threshold defined for flood and debris-flow conditions following a year of vegetative recovery and sediment removal for the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains of I = 14.0D^−0.5 is approximately 25 mm/h higher than that developed for the first year following fires.The thresholds defined here are significantly lower than most identified for unburned settings, perhaps because of the difference between extremely rapid, runoff-dominated processes acting in burned areas and longer-term, infiltration-dominated processes on unburned hillslopes.     

Comparing models of debris-flow susceptibility in the alpine environment

Debris-flows are widespread in Val di Fassa (Trento Province, Eastern Italian Alps) where they constitute one of the most dangerous gravity-induced surface processes. From a large set of environmental characteristics and a detailed inventory of debris flows, we developed five models to predict location of debris-flow source areas. The models differ in approach (statistical vs. physically-based) and type of terrain unit of reference (slope unit vs. grid cell). In the statistical models, a mix of several environmental factors classified areas with different debris-flow susceptibility; however, the factors that exert a strong discriminant power reduce to conditions of high slope-gradient, pasture or no vegetation cover, availability of detrital material, and active erosional processes. Since slope and land use are also used in the physically-based approach, all model results are largely controlled by the same leading variables.Overlaying susceptibility maps produced by the different methods (statistical vs. physically-based) for the same terrain unit of reference (grid cell) reveals a large difference, nearly 25% spatial mismatch. The spatial discrepancy exceeds 30% for susceptibility maps generated by the same method (discriminant analysis) but different terrain units (slope unit vs. grid cell). The size of the terrain unit also led to different susceptibility maps (almost 20% spatial mismatch). Maps based on different statistical tools (discriminant analysis vs. logistic regression) differed least (less than 10%). Hence, method and terrain unit proved to be equally important in mapping susceptibility.Model performance was evaluated from the percentages of terrain units that each model correctly classifies, the number of debris-flow falling within the area classified as unstable by each model, and through the metric of ROC curves. Although all techniques implemented yielded results essentially comparable; the discriminant model based on the partition of the study area into small slope units may constitute the most suitable approach to regional debris-flow assessment in the Alpine environment.     

Magnitude–frequency relationships of debris flows and debris avalanches in relation to slope relief

Probability of occurrence, hazard intensity and encounter probability are key parameters in the quantitative risk analysis (QRA) of landslides. All are strongly dependent on magnitude of the landslides. As a result, magnitude–frequency analysis should be a part of QRA. Deriving representative magnitude–frequency relationships for debris avalanches and debris flows, however, is difficult. One key problem is illustrated with the example of a unique database from the coastal region of British Columbia, Canada, which was compiled entirely from detailed ground investigations. The magnitude of debris avalanches and debris flows is not an independent statistical quantity, but a function of the scale of a given slope, as characterized by the slope length. Thus, attempting to derive probability and magnitude for a given location or sub-region from a regionally-derived magnitude–frequency curve may lead to incorrect predictions. The same problem is pertinent to the application of the same approach to any type of landslide in which the largest combined dimension of the source volume (including entrainment) is of the same order as the length of the slope. It is recommended that greater emphasis be placed on site-specific geological observations, at the expense of generalized statistics.     

中山市交通系统地震易损性分析

交通系统地震易损性分析主要是针对系统中的道路、桥梁及路边建筑破坏的影响。分别采用经验统计法、单体桥梁分析方法、瓦砾堆积物计算方法得到了各自对应的道路路段通行概率,而这三个因素共同构成了道路路段的最终通行概率,通过Monte-Carlo算法即可得出交通系统连通可靠性。根据分析结果寻找薄弱环节,为制定相应的防震减灾对策提供依据。     

Flow prediction in high altitude ungauged catchments: A case study in the Italian Alps (Pantano Basin,Adamello Group)

We develop a simple model to evaluate the daily flow discharges in the ablation season for the 11 km² Pantano basin in the Retiche Italian Alps, based upon the data gathered during a three years field campaign. The Pantano basin embeds the Venerocolo debris covered and the Avio debris free glaciers, covering 2.14 km² in the Adamello Group, where the widest Italian glacier Adamello is located. First, degree-day models based upon air temperature are tuned to calculate snow and ice melt at daily scale. Glaciers’ meteorological data are collected from an automatic weather station (AWS), operating on the glacier during summer 2007. The melt factors in the debris covered areas of the glacier are estimated against debris thickness, using a data driven parameterization. The flow discharge from the catchment is estimated using semi distributed flow routing for the ablation seasons of four years, from 2006 to 2009. The predicted discharges are compared to those derived from inverse reservoir's routing at the Benedetto lake, catching the basin outflow. The proposed approach is valuable as a tool to investigate the hydrology of poorly gauged glacierized areas, including those with debris covered ice, widely diffused and yet poorly understood. Pending accurate parameterization the approach is usable for water resources evaluation and for long term assessment of the climate change impact on the glacierized areas within the Alps.     

北京景区泥石流灾害灾情评估模型的建立与应用

本文针对北京景区泥石流破坏的特点,确定其资源价值,生态环境、生命财产的损失为评价主体。采用层次分析法确定了各评价体系中评价因子的权重,建立了以加权求和法为计算基础的评价模型,并利用该模型对2002年发生于云蒙山景区的泥石流进行了灾情评估。     

Integrating airborne and multi‐temporal long‐range terrestrial laser scanning with total station measurements for mapping and monitoring a compound slow moving rock slide

A slow moving compound rock slide located in the northern Apennines of Italy was mapped and monitored through the integration of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), multi‐temporal long‐range Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), and Automated Total Station (ATS) measurements. Landslide features were mapped using a High Resolution Digital Terrain Model (HR‐DTM) obtained by merging ALS and TLS data in an Iterative Closest Point (ICP) procedure. Slope movements in the order of centimeters to a few decimeters were quantified with Differential TLS (D‐TLS) based on a Surface Matching approach and supported by ATS data to define stable reference surfaces. The integrated approach allowed mapping of the composite geomorphic features of the rock slide under examination, revealing its complex dynamic nature and further proving that laser scanning is a versatile and widely applicable tool for slope process analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

四川省都江堰市龙池地区泥石流危险性评价研究

汶川地震灾区震后泥石流灾害较震前活跃,对灾区泥石流危险性进行评价是灾后重建过程中合理防灾减灾的基础工作。通过研究泥石流灾害事件中的泥石流规模、泥石流沟堆积扇面积及相应的灾害损失等基础资料,提出以泥石流在泥石流沟堆积扇上的平均堆积厚度替代泥石流规模作为主要危险因子的单沟泥石流危险性评价方法。用该方法对汶川震区都江堰市龙池镇龙溪河流域2010年"8.13"泥石流事件中的29条沟谷型泥石流进行危险性评价,评价结果中9条为高度危险,12条为中度危险,8条为低度危险。用以泥石流规模为主要危险因子的单沟泥石流危险性评价方法进行对比评价,2种评价方法中有65.5%的泥石流的危险性评价结果一致。以泥石流沟堆积扇平均堆积厚度为主要危险因子的单沟泥石流危险性评价方法更能突出规模对泥石流综合危险度的贡献,能更好地反映小泥石流流域和小泥石流堆积扇的泥石流在中小规模的泥石流总量下的危险程度。     

泥石流流域岩性的坚固系数与暴发频率的关系

坚硬岩性地区的泥石流暴发频率较低在定性上基本可以概括岩性与泥石流暴发频率的关系,但目前还没有定量地描述岩性与泥石流暴发频率的关系。以四川省17个泥石流流域作为研究对象,通过现场调查研究泥石流形成区和堆积区粗化层颗粒的岩性、硬度以及泥石流的暴发频率,得出：①泥石流堆积区岩性组成特征基本可以代表形成区的岩性组成特征;②用地...     

彭州市干溪沟流域地震诱发地质灾害成因分析

干溪沟属于湔江的支流,在大地构造部位上位于龙门山断褶带中段前缘,地貌上属于侵蚀构造地貌和河流地貌,切割深,降雨量丰富,河谷、河流较发育.由于人工开采矿石普遍,地质灾害较发育,典型的地质灾害主要有大白岩崩塌体、大团包滑坡体、干溪沟潜在泥石流.大白岩逆冲崩塌体是在汶川大地震发生时,映秀一北川断层发生逆冲,上盘灰岩错出山坡,...