Jonathan Godt
As Coordinator of the Landslide Hazards Program, I am responsible for scientific direction and priorities of the only federal program devoted to landslide science and risk reduction.
Biography
Dr. Godt began his career with the USGS as a graduate student with a research focus on monitoring and understanding the hydrology and mechanics of landslide initiation. He has a B.A. in Political Science from Purdue University, and a B.S. in Environmental Science and a Ph.D. in Geography from the Univeristy of Colorado.
Publications listed in Google Scholar
Science and Products
Preliminary Landslide Assessments
The USGS seeks to provide effective situational awareness about long-term and ongoing hazardous events to improve emergency response, inform the public, and minimize societal disruption. Large, highly mobile landslides generate seismic signals that can be detected by seismic monitoring networks and leave scars and deposits that can be detected from high-resolution remote-sensing imagery....
Preliminary Analysis of Satellite Imagery and Seismic Observations of the Nuugaatsiaq Landslide and Tsunami, Greenland
Disclaimer
This information is preliminary or provisional and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely science to assess ongoing hazards. The information has not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages...
Preliminary Landslide Susceptibility Maps and Data for Hawaii
Landslide Susceptibility Data and Maps provide tools for hazard assessment prior to an event that may cause landslides.
Portland, Oregon
Landslides in the West Hills of Portland pose a hazard to people and property.
Knife Ridge, Elliott State Forest, Oregon
The USGS and its cooperators have installed instruments in a steep hillside about 20 km southeast of Reedsport in the Elliott State Forest.
Poplar Cove, Nantahala National Forest, North Carolina
The USGS and its cooperators have installed instruments in a steep hillside about 17.5 km southwest of Franklin, NC in the Nantahala National Forest.
Mooney Gap, Coweeta Experimental Forest, North Carolina
The USGS and its cooperators have installed instruments in a steep hillside about 16 km southeast of Otto, NC in the Coweeta Experimental Forest.
Bent Creek Experimental Forest, North Carolina
The USGS and its cooperators have installed instruments in a steep hillside about 38.5 km south of Asheville, NC in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest.
Understanding Fluid Injection Induced Seismicity
Fluid injection induced seismicity has been reported since the 1960s. There are currently more than 150,000 injection wells associated with oil and gas production in 34 states in the conterminous US. Pore pressure disturbance caused by injection is generally considered the culprit for injection induced seismicity, but, not all injection causes seismicity. It is not well understood what...
Landslides across the United States: Occurrence, susceptibility, and data limitations
Detailed information about landslide occurrence is the foundation for advancing process understanding, susceptibility mapping, and risk reduction. Despite the recent revolution in digital elevation data and remote sensing technologies, landslide mapping remains resource intensive. Consequently, a modern, comprehensive map of landslide occurrence...
Mirus, Benjamin B.; Jones, Eric S.; Baum, Rex L.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Slaughter, Stephen Lee; Crawford, Matthew; Lancaster, Jeremy T.; Stanley, Thomas; Kirschbaum, Dalia; Burns, William J.; Schmitt, Robert G.; Lindsey, Kassandra O; McCoy, Kevin Bayesian analysis of the impact of rainfall data product on simulated slope failure for North Carolina locations
In the past decades, many different approaches have been developed in the literature to quantify the load-carrying capacity and geotechnical stability (or the Factor of Safety, F_s) of variably saturated hillslopes. Much of this work has focused on a deterministic characterization of hillslope stability. Yet, simulated F_s values are subject to...
Yatheendradas, Soni; Kirschbaum, Dalia; Nearing, Grey; Vrugt, Jasper A.; Baum, Rex L.; Wooten, Rick; Lu, Ning; Godt, Jonathan W. Landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 and triggered more than 40,000 landslides in at least three-fourths of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. The number of landslides that occurred during this event was two orders of magnitude greater than those reported from previous hurricanes. Landslide source areas were commonly...
Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Cerovski-Darriau, Corina; Schulz, William; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Kean, Jason W.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Thomas, Matthew A.; Hughes, K. Stephen Tropical storm-induced landslide potential using combined field monitoring and numerical modeling
When heavy rainfall, such as that associated with tropical storms, falls on steep hillsides, shallow landslides are often one of the damaging consequences. To assess landslide potential from heavy rainfall, a strategy of combined numerical simulation and field monitoring of variably saturated hillslope conditions is developed. To test the combined...
Chen, Pan; Lu, Ning; Formetta, Giuseppe; Godt, Jonathan W.; Wayllace, Alexandra
Science for a risky world—A U.S. Geological Survey plan for risk research and applications
Executive SummaryNatural hazards—including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, geomagnetic storms, and pandemics—can wreak havoc on human communities, the economy, and natural resources for years following an initial event. Hazards can claim lives and cause billions of dollars in damage...
Ludwig, K.A.; Ramsey, David W.; Wood, Nathan J.; Pennaz, A.B.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Luco, Nicolas; Koenig, Todd A.; Hudnut, Kenneth W.; Davis, Donyelle K.; Bright, Patricia R. Field and laboratory hydraulic characterization of landslide-prone soils in the Oregon Coast Range and implications for hydrologic simulation
Unsaturated zone flow processes are an important focus of landslide hazard estimation. Differences in soil hydraulic behavior between wetting and drying conditions (i.e., hydraulic hysteresis) may be important in landslide triggering. Hydraulic hysteresis can complicate soil hydraulic parameter estimates and impact prediction capability. This...
Ebel, Brian A.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Lu, Ning; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Smith, Joel B.; Baum, Rex L. Landslides triggered by the 14 November 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake, New Zealand
The 14 November 2016 Mw">MwMw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake generated more than 10,000 landslides over a total area of about 10,000  km2">10,000 km210,000 km2, with the majority concentrated in a smaller area of about 3600  km2">3600 km23600 km2. The largest landslide triggered...
Massey, C.; Townsend, D.; Rathje, Ellen M.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Lukovic, B.; Kaneko, Yoshihiro; Bradley, Brendon A.; Wartman, J.; Jibson, Randall W.; Petley, D. N.; Horspool, Nick; Hamling, I.; Carey, J.; Cox, S.; Davidson, John; Dellow, S.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Holden, Christopher; Jones, Katherine D.; Kaiser, Anna E.; Little, M.; Lyndsell, B.; McColl, S.; Morgenstern, R.; Rengers, Francis K.; Rhoades, D.; Rosser, B.; Strong, D.; Singeisen, C.; Villeneuve, M. Strong variation in weathering of layered rock maintains hillslope‐scale strength under high precipitation
The evolution of volcanic landscapes and their landslide potential are both dependent upon the weathering of layered volcanic rock sequences. We characterize critical zone structure using shallow seismic Vp and Vs profiles and vertical exposures of rock across a basaltic climosequence on Kohala peninsula, Hawai’i, and exploit...
Von Voigtlander, Jennifer; Clark, Marin K.; Zekkos, Dimitrios; Greenwood, William W.; Anderson, Suzanne P.; Anderson, Robert S.; Godt, Jonathan W. Improving near‐real‐time coseismic landslide models: Lessons learned from the 2016 Kaikōura, New Zealand, earthquake
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing near‐real‐time global earthquake‐triggered‐landslide products to augment the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system. The 14 November 2016 Mw">MwMw 7.8 Kaikōura, New Zealand, earthquake provided a test case for evaluating the performance and near‐real‐...
Allstadt, Kate E.; Jibson, Randall W.; Thompson, Eric M.; Massey, Chris; Wald, David J.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Rengers, Francis K.
Overview of the geologic effects of the November 14, 2016, Mw 7.8 Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake
The November 14, 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake (moment magnitude [Mw] 7.8) triggered more than 10,000 landslides over an area of about 12,000 square kilometers in the northeastern part of the South Island of New Zealand. In collaboration with GNS Science (the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science Limited), we conducted ground and...
Jibson, Randall W.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Rengers, Francis K.; Godt, Jonathan W. Variability in soil-water retention properties and implications for physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria
Rainfall-induced shallow landsliding is a persistent hazard to human life and property. Despite the observed connection between infiltration through the unsaturated zone and shallow landslide initiation, there is considerable uncertainty in how estimates of unsaturated soil-water retention properties affect slope stability assessment. This source...
Thomas, Matthew A.; Mirus, Benjamin B.; Collins, Brian D.; Lu, Ning; Godt, Jonathan W. The size, distribution, and mobility of landslides caused by the 2015 Mw7.8 Gorkha earthquake, Nepal
Coseismic landslides pose immediate and prolonged hazards to mountainous communities, and provide a rare opportunity to study the effect of large earthquakes on erosion and sediment budgets. By mapping landslides using high-resolution satellite imagery, we find that the 25 April 2015 Mw7.8 Gorkha earthquake and aftershock sequence produced at...
Roback, Kevin; Clark, Marin K.; West, A. Joshua; Zekkos, Dimitrios; Li, Gen; Gallen, Sean F.; Chamlagain, Deepak; Godt, Jonathan W.
Revisiting the Oso Landslide
"Gravity Never Sleeps": The USGS collaborates with community partners for a series of briefings on Capitol Hill to discuss national landslide hazards.