Publications
Filter Total Items: 860
Evaluation of techniques for mitigating snowmelt infiltration-induced landsliding in a highway embankment
Infiltration-induced landslides threaten transportation infrastructure around the world, and impose both direct costs through repair and remediation work and indirect costs through lost economic activity. Therefore, finding the most cost-effective techniques to mitigate slope failures that can impact critical infrastructure links is desirable. The Straight Creek landslide, which affects a segment
Authors
Eric Hinds, Ning Lu, Benjamin B. Mirus, Jonathan W. Godt, Alexandra Wayllace
Movement of sediment through a burned landscape: Sediment volume observations and model comparisons in the San Gabriel Mountains, California, USA
Post-wildfire changes to hydrologic and geomorphic systems can lead to widespread sediment redistribution. Understanding how sediment moves through a watershed is crucial for assessing hazards, developing debris flow inundation models, engineering sediment retention solutions, and quantifying the role that disturbances play in landscape evolution. In this study, we used terrestrial and airborne li
Authors
Francis K. Rengers, Luke A. McGuire, Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley, Mariana Dobre, Peter R. Robichaud, Tyson Swetnam
Evaluation of remote mapping techniques for earthquake-triggered landslide inventories in an urban subarctic environment: A case study of the 2018 Anchorage, Alaska Earthquake
Earthquake-induced landslide inventories can be generated using field observations but doing so can be challenging if the affected landscape is large or inaccessible after an earthquake. Remote sensing data can be used to help overcome these limitations. The effectiveness of remotely sensed data to produce landslide inventories, however, is dependent on a variety of factors, such as the extent of
Authors
Sabrina N. Martinez, Lauren N. Schaefer, Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson
A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya
On 7 Feb 2021, a catastrophic mass flow descended the Ronti Gad, Rishiganga, and Dhauliganga valleys in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India, causing widespread devastation and severely damaging two hydropower projects. Over 200 people were killed or are missing. Our analysis of satellite imagery, seismic records, numerical model results, and eyewitness videos reveals that ~27x106 m3 of rock and glacier ic
Authors
D. H. Shugar, Mylène Jacquemart, D. Shean, S. Bhushan, K. Upadhyay, A. Sattar, W. Schwanghart, Sara K. McBride, M. Van Wyk de Vries, M. Mergili, A. Emmer, C. Deschamps-Berger, M. McDonnell, R. Bhambri, S. Allen, E. Berthier, J.L. Carrivick, J.J. Clague, M. Dokukin, S.A. Dunning, Herbert Frey, S. Gascoin, U. K. Haritashya, C. Huggel, A. Kaab, J.S. Kargel, J.L. Kavanaugh, P. Lacroix, D. N. Petley, S. Rupper, M.F. Azam, S.J. Cook, A.P. Dimri, M. Eriksson, D. Farinotti, J. Fiddes, K.R. Gnyawali, S. Harrison, M.K. Jha, M. Koppes, S. Kumar, S. Leiness, U. Majeed, S. Mai, A. Muhuri, J. Noetzli, F. Paul, I. Rashid, K. Sain, J. Steiner, F. Ugalde, C.S. Watson, M.J. Westoby
A near-real-time model for estimating probability of road obstruction due to earthquake-triggered landslides
Coseismic landslides are a major source of transportation disruption in mountainous areas, but few approaches exist for rapidly estimating impacts to road networks. We develop a model that links the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) near-real-time earthquake-triggered landslide hazard model with Open Street Map (OSM) road network data to rapidly estimate segment-level obstruction risk following major
Authors
B.H. Wilson, Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson
Numerical analysis of the effect of subgrid variability in a physically based hydrological model on runoff, soil moisture, and slope stability
In coarse resolution hydrological modeling we face the problem of subgrid variability, the effects of which are difficult to express and are often hidden in the parameterization and calibration. We present a numerical experiment with the physically based hydrological model ParFlow‐CLM with which we quantify the effect of subgrid heterogeneities in headwater catchments within the cell size typicall
Authors
E. Leonarduzzi, R. M. Maxwell, Benjamin B. Mirus, P. Molnar
Incorporating the effects of complex soil layering and thickness local variability into distributed landslide susceptibility assessments
Incorporating the influence of soil layering and local variability into the parameterizations of physics-based numerical models for distributed landslide susceptibility assessments remains a challenge. Typical applications employ substantial simplifications including homogeneous soil units and soil-hydraulic properties assigned based only on average textural classifications; the potential impact o
Authors
F. Fusco, Benjamin B. Mirus, Rex L. Baum, D. Calcaterra, P. De Vita
Forecasting the frequency and magnitude of postfire debris flows across southern California
Southern California has a long history of damaging debris flows after wildfire. Despite recurrent loss, forecasts of the frequency and magnitude of postfire debris flows are not available for the region like they are for earthquakes. Instead, debris flow hazards are typically assessed in a reactive manner after wildfires. Such assessments are crucial for evaluating debris flow risk by postfire eme
Authors
Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley
Modeling hydrologic processes associated with soil saturation and debris flow initiation during the September 2013 storm, Colorado Front Range
Seven days of extreme rainfall during September 2013 produced more than 1100 debris flows in the Colorado Front Range, about 78% of which occurred on south-facing slopes (SFS). Previously published soil moisture (volumetric water content) observations suggest that SFS were wetter than north-facing slopes (NFS) during the event, which contrasts with soil moisture patterns observed during normal con
Authors
Sujana Timilsina, Jeffrey D. Niemann, Sara L. Rathburn, Francis K. Rengers, Peter A. Nelson
Rapid sensitivity analysis for reducing uncertainty in landslide hazard assessments
One of the challenges in assessing temporal and spatial aspects of landslide hazard using process-based models is estimating model input parameters, especially in areas where limited measurements of soil and rock properties are available. In an effort to simplify and streamline parameter estimation, development of a simple, rapid approach to sensitivity analysis relies on field measurements of lan
Authors
Rex L. Baum
Wildfire and landscape change
Wildfire is a worldwide phenomenon that is expected to increase in extent and severity in the future, due to fuel accumulations, shifting land management practices, and climate change. It immediately affects the landscape by removing vegetation, depositing ash, influencing water-repellent soil formation, and physically weathering boulders and bedrock. These changes typically lead to increased eros
Authors
Paul M. Santi, Francis K. Rengers
Detection and assessment of a large and potentially tsunamigenic periglacial landslide in Barry Arm, Alaska
The retreat of glaciers in response to global warming has the potential to trigger landslides in glaciated regions around the globe. Landslides that enter fjords or lakes can cause tsunamis, which endanger people and infrastructure far from the landslide itself. Here we document the ongoing movement of an unstable slope (total volume of 455 million m3) in Barry Arm, a fjord in Prince William Sound
Authors
Chunli Dai, Bretwood Higman, Patrick J. Lynett, Mylène Jacquemart, Ian Howat, Anna K. Liljedahl, Anja Dufresne, Jeffery T. Freymueller, Marten Geertsema, Melissa Ward Jones, Peter J. Haeussler