Mass Movement

The aims of this project were to identify and map landslide occurences in the Bréifne area in norwth-west Ireland; to proue a landslide susceptibility map using GIS; and to test a first approach for a methodology for systematic landslide mapping for the whole of Ireland. The methodology used to derive the final susceibility maps was compiled from several literature examples (Santacana et a l. 2003, Tangestani 2003, Morton et al. 2003). Due to the large extent of the study area (2129.7 km2) and the short length of time available for fieldwork (les than one month), mapping was mainly based on remote sensing techniques such as satellite imagery, aerial photography and orthophotograhy analysis. All these datasets were combined with igital elevation models (DEMs) to facilitate identifiation and classification of landslide events. 

Kyrgyzstan is landlocked mountainous nation of around five million people, which borders China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The total area of high mountainous terrain, alpine meadows and pastures exceeds 70% of the Republic’s territory, whereas the greater part of the Kyrgyz Republic is occupied by the Tien-Shan mountains. Kyrgyzstan is a highly active seismic region and has been shaken by numerous significant earthquakes as a consequence of the ongoing collision between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. In the result, the mountainous country is faced with a large variety of natural hazards (mainly earthquakes, large landslides and floods) which frequently lead to the occurrence of natural disaster (e.g., 1994: about 1,000 landslides failed and 115 human fatalities; 2008: Nura earthquake M=6.6, 74 human fatalities and 150 injured, 90 glacial lakes endangered for regularly occurring outburst floods). Under these conditions, there is high demand for efficient…

Landslide geodatabases, including inventories and thematic data, today are fundamental tools for national and/or local authorities in susceptibility, hazard and risk management. Awell organized landslide geo-database contains different kinds of data such as past information (landslide inventory maps), ancillary data and updated remote sensing (space-borne and ground based) data,which can be integrated in order to produce landslide susceptibility maps, updated landslide inventory maps and hazard and risk assessment maps. Italy is strongly affected by
landslide phenomena which cause victims and significant economic damage to buildings and infrastructure, loss of productive soils and pasture lands. In particular, the Messina Province (southern Italy) represents an area where landslides are recurrent and characterized by high magnitude, due to several predisposing factors (e.g. morphology, land use, lithologies) and different triggering…

In the recent years radar interferometry (InSAR) has become an important tool in various studies. It can be used to produce accurate digital elevation models and observe small surface displacements. Differential interferometry (DInSAR) can detect movements in the radar look direction that are in the order of wavelength used, i.e. less than one centimetre with ERS data. In the presented study DInSAR has been used to observe surface movements in western Slovenia. Three ERS radar images have been supplemented with an external digital elevation model to produce three differential interferograms that temporally covered the Poso~je earthquake, which happened on April 12, 1998. For the area around Bovec a land subsidence of approximately 0.5 cm has been observed; the largest movements detected exceeded 2 cm. DInSAR has been compared to the permanent scatterers interferometry (PSInSAR). Both methods are complementary and both have individual advantages and disadvantages.