Mouvement de masse

Definition

Mass movements can be defined as as any type of downslope movement of earth materials, such as sediment, soil and rock material. Mass movements are processes of erosion, transport and accumulation of material that occur on both gentle and steep slopes mainly owing to gravitational forces (IRDR Glossary).

These movements are generally associated with other disasters such as earthquakes, floods, thunderstorms and heavy rainstorm. They can be also associated with manmade hazards like construction roads, buildings, structures, infrastructure facilities.

 

Facts and figures

Mass movements occur based on several factors and causes differ depending on different regions. Mass movements are affected by the slope gradient, climate, rock type and structure, physical setting and geological and geomorphological outlines (Advances in Geosciences).

Mass-wasting events come in many shapes, sizes and speeds. Typically, the steeper the angle of a slope, the faster will be the down-slope movement of rock and sediment.  Also, water can play a significant role in mass wasting, sometimes acting as the key component to a mass-wasting event, or serving as a lubricant within a mass of sediment and rock, enabling it to travel faster and further than it would otherwise.

 

One type of mass wasting can evolve into another type of mass wasting as the body of sediment/rock moves down a slope. This can make it difficult to classify a single event as being one type of mass wasting or another (Department of Geological Sciences, California State University).

A simple classification of the different types of mass wasting can be:

  • Falls  (rock fall and rock avalanche)        
  • Slides  (rock slide, landslide and slump)      
  • Flows  (rock avalanche, debris flow, earth flow and creep).

UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices with hazard-specific expertise

Related content on the Knowledge Portal

  • Reliable multi-temporal landslide detection over longer periods of time requires multi-sensor time series data characterized by high internal geometric stability, as well as high relative and absolute accuracy. For this purpose, a new methodology for fully automated co-registration has been developed allowing efficient and robust spatial alignment of standard orthorectified data products originating from a multitude of optical satellite remote sensing data of varying spatial resolution. Correlation-based co-registration 
    read more
  • In the past, different approaches for automated landslide identification based on multispectral satellite remote sensing were developed to focus on the analysis of the spatial distribution of landslide occurrences related to distinct triggering events. However, many regions, including southern Kyrgyzstan, experience ongoing process activity requiring continual multi-temporal analysis. For this purpose, an automated object-oriented landslide mapping approach has been developed based on RapidEye time series data complemented 
    read more
  • We present a method for the semi-automatic recognition and mapping of recent rainfall induced shallow landslides. The method exploits VHR panchromatic and HR multispectral satellite images, and was tested in a 9.4 km2 area in Sicily, Italy, where on 1 October 2009 a high intensity rainfall event caused shallow landslides, soil erosion, and inundation. Pre-event and post-event images of the study area taken by the QuickBird satellite, and information on the location and type of landslides obtained in the field and through the interpretation of post-event aerial photographs, were used to construct and…
    read more
  • Surface displacement field of landslides is a key parameter to access to their geometries and mechanical properties. Surface displacements can be calculated using remote-sensing methods such as interferometry for radar data and image correlation for optical data. These methods have been elaborated this last decade and successfully applied on sensors (radar, cameras, terrestrial 3D laser scanner imaging) either attached to space or aerial platforms such as satellites, planes, and unmanned radio-controlled platforms (drones and helicopters) or settled at fixed positions emplaced in the front of…
    read more
  • As a geological hazard, landslides cause extensive property damage and sometimes result in loss of life. Thus, it is necessary to assess areas that are vulnerable to future landslide events to mitigate potential damage. For this purpose, change detection analysis and a generalized additive model were applied to investigate potential landslide occurrences within the Sacheoncheon area, Korea. An unsupervised change detection analysis based on multi-temporal object-based segmentation of high-resolution remote sensing data…
    read more
  • 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.

  • Landslide inventory mapping is an indispensable prerequisite for reliable hazard and risk analysis, and with the increasing availability of very high resolution (VHR) remote sensing imagery the creation and updating of such inventories on regular bases and directly after major events is becoming possible. The diversity of landslide processes and spectral similarities of affected areas with other landscape elements pose major challenges for automated image processing, and time-consuming manual image interpretation and field surveys are still the most commonly applied mapping techniques. Taking…
    read more
  • Landslides are a major type of geohazards claiming thousands of casualties and billions of dollars in property damages every year. Catastrophic landslide activities are often triggered by some extreme events such as earthquakes, excessive precipitations, or volcanic eruptions. Quickly identifying the spatial distribution of landslides induced by these extreme events is crucial for coordinating rescue efforts and planning in situ investigations. In this study, we propose an automated method for detecting the spatial distribution of earthquake-triggered landslides by examining after-event vegetation…
    read more
  • In the present work we present first results of ground deformation measurements inferred through repeat-pass Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry (In-SAR) in C- and X-band over an Italian Alpine area, in Lombardia region. The activity was carried out in the framework of the MORFEO (MOnitoraggio e Rischio da Frana mediante dati EO) project, founded by the Italian Spatial Agency (ASI) and dedicated to landslide 
    read more
  • Recognition and classification of landslides is a critical requirement in pre- and post-disaster hazard analysis. This has been primarily done through field mapping or manual image interpretation. However, image interpretation can also be done semi-automatically by creating a routine in object-based classification using the spectral, spatial and morphometric properties of landslides, and by incorporating expert knowledge. This is a difficult task since a fresh landslide has spectral properties that are nearly identical to those of other natural objects, such as river sand and rocky outcrops, and…
    read more

Term Parents

UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices with hazard-specific expertise