Wildfire

Landslide hazard and risk assessments help people understand the dangers from landslides to their towns and cities, homes, facilities, and businesses. Landslide hazard assessments are estimates of the probability that landslides will affect a particular area or location, typically within a given timeframe.

We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.

This project characterizes and measures sediment-related effects of landscape disturbances (such as major storms, drought, or wildfire) and river management. We focus primarily on the U.S. west coast, and our work relates to natural hazards and resource management.

Wildfires can dramatically alter how water moves across the landscape. After a fire, vegetation is removed and soil properties change, reducing the ground’s ability to absorb rainfall. As a result, even modest rainstorms can trigger dangerous flash floods and debris flows in steep burned areas. Postfire debris flows are fast-moving mixtures of water, mud, rocks, and vegetation that can surge...

A summary of recent and past landslides and debris flows caused by rainfall in northern California, and links to current shallow landslide monitoring.

A summary of recent and past landslides and debris flows caused by rainfall in Southern California.