Reflection of typhoon morakot �� the challenge of compound disaster simulation

Climate change has altered locally single-type disasters to large-scale compound disasters because of increasing intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events. The compound disasters can combine small-scale floods, debris flows, shallow landslides, deep-seated landslides, and landslide lakes into a large-scale single disaster event. Although simulation models and evaluation tools are available for single-type disasters, no single model is well developed for compound disasters due to the difficulty of handling the interrelationship between two successive single-type disasters. This study proposes a structure for linking available single-type simulation models to evaluate compound disasters and provides a useful tool of decision making for warning and planning of disaster reduction.     

An experimental determination of the relationship between the minimum height of landslide dams and the run-out distance of landslides

Landslides - Landslides frequently occur on mountain slopes due to earthquakes and rainfall. When a landslide occurs near a river, the landslide mass moves at a certain speed towards the river...     

Analysis of landslide dam geometries

The geometry of a landslide dam is an important component of evaluating dam stability. However, the geometry of a natural dam commonly cannot be obtained immediately with field investigations due to their remote locations. A rapid evaluation model is presented to estimate the geometries of natural dams based on the slope of the stream, volume of landslides, and the properties of the deposit. The proposed model uses high resolution satellite images to determine the geometry of the landside dam. These satellite images are the basic information to a preliminary stability analysis of a natural dam. This study applies the proposed method to two case studies in Taiwan. One is the earthquake-induced Lung-Chung landslide dam in Taitung, and the second is the rainfall-induced Shih-Wun landslide dam in Pingtung.     

Rapid geometry analysis for earthquake-induced and rainfall-induced landslide dams in Taiwan

Stability analysis of the dam is important for disaster prevention and reduction. The dam＇s geometry plays an important role in understanding its stability. This study develops a rapid landslide dam geometry assessment method for both earthquake-induced and rainfall-induced landslide dams based on nine real cases collected in Chinese Taipei and 214 cases collected worldwide. For simplification purposes, a landslide dam is classified into triangular or trapezoidal. The rapid landslide dam geometry assessment method in this paper uses only satellite maps and the topographic maps to get landslide area, and then analyze the dam geometry. These maps are used to evaluate the area of the landslide and the slope of the river bed. Based on the evaluation information, the proposed method can calculate dam height, the length of the dam, and the angles of the dam in both upstream and downstream directions. These geometry parameters of a landslide dam provide important information for further dam stability analysis. The proposed methodology is applied to a real landslide dam case at Hsiaolin Village. The result shows that the proposed method can be used to assess the landslide dam geometry.     

Debris flow susceptibility analysis based on the combined impacts of antecedent earthquakes and droughts: a case study for cascade hydropower stations in the upper Yangtze River,China

The upper Yangtze River region is one of the most frequent debris flow areas in China. The study area contains a cascade of six large hydropower stations located along the river with total capacity of more than 70 million kilowatts. The purpose of the study was to determine potential and dynamic differences in debris flow susceptibility and intensity with regard to seasonal monsoon events. We analyzed this region’s debris flow history by examining the effective peak acceleration of antecedent earthquakes, the impacts of antecedent droughts, the combined effects of earthquakes and droughts, with regard to topography, precipitation, and loose solid material conditions. Based on these factors, we developed a debris flow susceptibility map. Results indicate that the entire debris flow susceptibility area is 167,500 km², of which 26,800 km² falls within the high susceptibility area, with 60,900 km² in medium and 79,800 km² are in low susceptibility areas. Three of the six large hydropower stations are located within the areas with high risk of debris flows. The synthetic zonation map of debris flow susceptibility for the study area corresponds with both the investigation data and actual distribution of debris flows. The results of debris flow susceptibility provide base-line data for mitigating, assessing, controlling and monitoring of debris flows hazards.