Completed

Prediction of rainfall-induced landslides in Liguria, northern Italy

The project aims at the definition of empirical thresholds for the possible initiation of rainfall-induced landslides in the Liguria region, and at the validation of the landslide forecasts issued by the SANF national warning system. The two goals are achieved by the collection, the organization and the analysis of rainfall and landslide information in the Liguria region. Collecting a sufficient number of rainfall and landslide data will allow rainfall thresholds for sub-regional areas (e.g., physiographic areas, alert zones) to be determined. The research project is funded by the Liguria Region.

Valutazione dei Rischi Posti da Fenomeni Naturali ed Antropici e Strategie di Mitigazione

Fra gli obbiettivi del Dipartimento Terra e Ambiente vi è quello di potenziare le conoscenze sul funzionamento del pianeta Terra, allo scopo di migliorare la qualità della vita, anche attraverso la prevenzione dai rischi posti dai fenomeni naturali. La commessa ha l’obiettivo di migliorare le conoscenze necessarie alla valutazione del rischio posto da fenomeni naturali potenzialmente calamitosi. La commessa intende sviluppare un quadro concettuale per l’analisi e la modellazione dei rischi naturali presenti in Italia, a differenti scale geografiche, temporali, organizzative ed amministrative. La commessa coordina attività di ricerca esistenti e promuove nuove attività multi- ed inter-disciplinari. Gli obbiettivi della commessa riguardano: (i) lo studio dei fenomeni naturali potenzialmente calamitosi, (ii) la definizione dei livelli di rischio per la popolazione ed i beni, (iii) lo sviluppo di sistemi di monitoraggio e d’allarme, e (iv) la messa a punto di strategie di mitigazione e difesa dai rischi naturali ed antropici. La commessa fornisce conoscenze e prodotti utili a Ministeri, Agenzie, Enti Locali, ed alla rete nazionale dei Centri Funzionali di Protezione Civile.

Prediction of rainfall-induced landslides and associated risk in Italy

In Italy, intense or prolonged rainfall is the primary trigger of landslides, and rainfall-induced slope failures occur every year, claiming lives, causing economic disruption, and producing different environmental problems. Prediction of rainfall-induced landslides is a challenging task of both scientific and societal interest. The prediction is complicated by the fact that the pattern and intensity of rainfall varies with time, driven by natural variations and changes in climate. The project aims at establishing rainfall thresholds for the possible initiation of landslides in Italy, and at developing the rationale and the tools for the best exploitation of the established thresholds in a nation-wide rainfall warning system managed by the National Department of Civil Protection. During the first phase of the project, regional rainfall intensity – rainfall duration (ID) thresholds will be established, and used to forecast the possible occurrence of landslides. Next, the ID thresholds will be refined, and new thresholds will be defined and implemented in the national rainfall warning system. The possible occurrence of slope instabilities will be decided based upon: (i) rainfall measurements and forecasts, (ii) the available initiation thresholds – at different scales – and (ii) the outcomes of a twin research project aimed at zoning landslide susceptibility, hazard, and risk in Italy. The 5-year research and development project (2007-2011) is financed by the Italian National Department of Civil Protection, in the framework of a long-term research and development initiative conducted in cooperation with the Italian National Research Council (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR). The project is lead by the Istituto di Ricerca per la Protezione Idrogeologica (IRPI). To achieve the project goals, IRPI coordinates a team of national and international scientists.

Realizzazione di Modelli e Carte di Suscettibilità da frana tipo scorrimento per il territorio della Regione Umbria

Contratto tra la Regione Umbria e IRPI-CNR. Durata 24 mesi (periodo 2012-2014).

LAMPRE - LAndslide Modelling and tools for vulnerability assessment Preparedness and REcovery management

LAMPRE proposes to execute innovative research and technological developments to increase GMES limited operational capacity to cope with triggered landslide events and their consequences, in Europe and elsewhere. LAMPRE will enhance landslide risk mitigation/preparedness efforts and post-event-landslide recovery and reconstruction activities, in highly vulnerable geographic and geologic regions.

DORIS: Ground Deformations Risk Scenarios: an Advanced Assessment Service

DORIS is an advanced downstream service for the detection, mapping, monitoring and forecasting of ground deformations, including landslides and ground subsidence, at different temporal and spatial scales and in various physiographic and environmental settings. DORIS integrates traditional and innovative Earth Observation (EO) and ground based (non-EO) data and technologies to improve our understanding of the complex phenomena that result in ground deformations, and to foster the ability of Environmental and Civil Protection authorities to manage the risks posed by ground deformations. DORIS delivers innovative products at the regional and local levels, tailored on the needs of national and local Civil Protection authorities. For the purpose, DORIS integrates state-of-the-art national technological and scientific capabilities with existing European upstream services. DORIS complies with guidelines provided by the EU Emergency Response Core Services, and is designed to be linked to existing Core Services. DORIS benefits from a unique partnership of leading research institutes and commercial providers, and is expected to stimulate European competitiveness and sustainable development. The DORIS project started on 1 October 2011, and will end on 30 September 2013 months. For further information on the project, visit the DORIS web site, or write to the Project Office.

VIGOR - Valutazione del potenzIale Geotermico delle regiOni della conveRgenza

The VIGOR (Valutazione del potenzIale Geotermico delle regiOni della conveRgenza) project aims to develop an instrument of knowledge and management of geothermal resources in Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicilia for the benefit of the local public government. The project is promoted by the “Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico (Dipartimento Generale per l’Energia Nucleare, le Energie Rinnovabili and l’Efficienza Energetica) and the CNR (Dipartimento Terra e Ambiente)”. The IRPI contribution concerns the selection of the study areas and their geomorphological, lithological, geological, hydrogeological and structural characterization. IRPI also contribute to the design and implementation of the digital archive that will store the digital geological and geomorphological information collected for the different study areas.

Landslide mapping and risk assessment in the Agri valley, Basilicata, southern Italy

The project, for ENI SpA Exploration and Production, is aimed at producing landslide inventory maps, landslide multi-temporal maps, and landslide risk assessments and associated zonations for areas in the Agri River valley, Basilicata, southern Italy. The two-year research project, conducted in cooperation with CNR IMAA (project leader) and CNR IREA, is aimed at obtaining new geomorphological information on the distribution, types and patterns of landslides in the Agri Valley, and in using the new information to determin the associated risk to inhabited areas and the population. Acquisition of new geomorphological information will be conducted through the interpretation of stereoscopic aerial photographs and satellite images, and field surveys.

Portale tematico sul dissesto geo-idrologico in Italia (PDGI)

Il portale rappresenta l’interfaccia d’accesso al Sistema Informativo distribuito sul Dissesto Geo-Idrologico in Italia, disegnato e gestito dall’IRPI, e che contiene un catalogo commentato delle informazioni sul vasto tema del dissesto geo-idrologico in Italia, che l’IRPI mette a disposizione attraverso il portale stesso. Il catalogo costituisce parte integrante di GIIDA, e permette l’accesso ad informazioni tematiche e cartografiche sul dissesto geo-idrologico, raccolte, generate, gestite od organizzate dal CNR IRPI. Per la definizione degli scenari dimostrativi dell’utilizzo e delle funzionalità previste per il portale tematico sul dissesto geo-idrologico, sono state individuate quattro tipologie di utenti di riferimento: (1) ricercatore, (2) decisore, (3) tecnico, e (4) cittadino. Per ciascun utente di riferimento è stato redatto uno specifico profilo conoscitivo e d’interesse, ed è stato definito un possibile scenario d’uso.

Landslide erosion rates in Italy and Taiwan

Taiwan and Italy are affected by extensive mass wasting processes induced by geophysical (earthquakes) and meteorological (prolonged or intense rainfall, rapid snowmelt) triggers, and human induced causes (deforestation, agricultural practices, constructions, irrigation, etc.). In the two countries – and elsewhere in the World – the rates at which landslides occur in an area depend on many factors, and are difficult to know precisely. Establishing the rates of landslide occurrence in an area is important to determine landslide hazards and the associated risk, and is particularly significant in an environment affected by climate change. To be able to decouple the effects of human induced and natural causes on the rate of landslides, one needs to know the rates of landslide occurrence for relatively long periods. This project aims at comparing the rates of landslide occurrence in selected areas in Italy and Taiwan. To determine the rates of landslide occurrence in an area, information on the temporal and spatial (geographical) evolution of landslides is essential. This information can be obtained from the analysis of high quality, multi-temporal, landslide inventory maps. The 2-year bilateral project is supported financially by the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, and the Taiwanese National Science Council.

PREVIEW

PREVIEW address the definition, the development and the validation in pre-operational conditions of information services to support the management in all phases (Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery) of: Windstorms, Forest fires, Plain floods and Flash floods, Earthquake & Volcanic risks, Landslides and Industrial accidents. Based on the review of the operational needs and of the existing research assets, a Portfolio of Services is defined in close cooperation with end-users. Research developments are performed to transfer the most promising available results and blocks to operational use. The information services are developed, tested and validated at European scale with operational users on pilot test sites. A long term deployment plan of these services is established, proposing the best scenarios and programmatic for their European operational deployment and organization. PREVIEW is organised in "hazard service platforms", each platform being managed with flexibility as a sub-project dedicated to the development of methodologies and services related to a given type of hazard. For best project efficiency, these platforms are further grouped into "clusters" depending on the possible teaming synergies. PREVIEW is led by the EURORISK Consortium, a multi-disciplinary European Team of committing Actors of the domain: Civil Protections and Environmental Bodies; Scientific communities and Service operators, at national and regional level, for Meteorology, Hydrology, Seismology, Vulcanology and GIS services based on Space data; and Industry. The project is organised around a core team of partners coming from 6 countries and from European organisations, leading all the project activities according to a common methodology and performing the necessary transverse actions to ensure the harmonisation, the standardisation and the global and long term view of the resulting services. Additional local partners are also associated to the project to bring their unique or recognized expertises on specific methodologies and technologies, to involve the necessary national and regional actors able to adapt the developed services to local specificities or to interface with on-going projects of interest for PREVIEW. Our team is part of the gophysical cluster platform, and it is involved in the landslide platform. We intend to contribute to the exploitmen of EO technology for landslides detecstion, monitoring, hazard assessment and risk evaluation. PREVIEW is an integrated project (PI) financed by the European Commission 6th Framework Programme.

E2-C2

Extreme events are a key manifestation of complex systems, in both the natural and human world. Their economic and social consequences are a matter of enormous concern. Much of science has concentrated, until recently, on understanding the mean behaviour of physical, biological or social systems and their “normal” variability. Extreme events, due to their rarity, have been hard to study and even harder to predict. We propose to develop methods for the description, understanding and prediction of extreme events across a range of natural and socio-economic phenomena. General tools will be developed to extract the distribution of these events from existing data sets. Models that are anchored in complex-systems concepts will be constructed to incorporate a priori knowledge about the phenomena and to reproduce the data-derived distribution of events. These models will then be used to predict the likelihood of extreme events in prescribed time intervals. The methodology will be applied to three sets of problems: (1) natural disasters from the realms of hydrology, seismology, and geomorphology; (2) socio-economic crises, including those associated with criminality, mass violence, and terrorism; and (3) rapid, and possibly catastrophic, changes in the interaction between economic activity and climate variability. The proposing team brings together expertise in various branches of the theory of nonlinear and complex systems, as well as in the application areas envisaged. Most importantly, it has a truly interdisciplinary, problem-oriented outlook. The work plan has been designed to integrate the expertise across the team and to provide problem-specific, as well as general results that will considerately strengthen the European Research Area in its “tackling complexity in science.” Our team is involved in WP5, "Temporal Scaling and Extremes in Hydrology, Wind, Fires, and Landslides" lead by Bruce Malamud, and Kings College London. E2-C2 is a Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) within a "Pathfinder" Initiative aimed at "Tackling Complexity in Science" and initiated by the New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST) Programme of the European Commission, as part of its Sixth Framework Programme (FP-6). The project number is 12975.

RiskAware

Home Projects Completed RiskAware Skip to content. | Skip to navigation RiskAware by Vinicio Balducci — last modified Jun 30, 2008 01:20 PM The RISK-AWARE project aims at developing an integrated system that exploits multiple data and information to forecast meteorological events and their geo-hydrological consequences. Research activities focus on: (i) the definition of methodologies, models and suitable data sets, (ii) the definition of guidelines for geo-hydrological risk prevention and management, (iii) the design and development of appropriate data communication and archive systems, (iv) the implementation of operational prototypes over selected areas, and (v) the deployment of the developed models and facilities to the end-users. The main results obtained by our team in the RISK-AWARE project can be summarized as follows: (a) A review of rainfall thresholds for the initiation of landslides, including an analysis of their potential applicability in real-time landslide warning system. (b) A database of more than 1600 rainfall events that resulted (or did not result) in landslides worldwide. The database lists information on rainfall, landslide and climate characteristics. (c) A rigorous method, based on Bayesian inference, to determine the lowest rainfall intensity needed to initiate landslides for a range of rainfall durations, form 20 minutes to 15 days. (d) A set of intensity-duration and normalized intensity-duration thresholds for the possible initiation of landslides. We have determined thresholds for the CADSES area – in central and southern Europe – and for the entire World.

MORFEO II, of the Italian Space Agency (ASI)

MORFEO è un progetto di ricerca e sviluppo co-finanziato dall'Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). L'obiettivo del progetto è quello di sviluppare un "sistema" a supporto della protezione civile dalle frane che si inserisca nel contesto del sistema nazionale della protezione civile. La dimensione del "sistema" è quella dell’intero Paese, ed il riferimento istituzionale ed organizzativo è il Sistema Nazionale dei Centri Funzionali e di Competenza, che nel suo complesso definisce un’architettura a rete di protezione civile e gestione delle emergenze poste da diversi rischi naturali, fra cui il rischio da frana. Gli utenti di riferimento del "sistema" sono i Centri di Competenza e, in seconda battuta, i Centri Funzionali. Al progetto partecipano PMI, Istituti di ricerca del CNR, e Dipartimenti universitari. La Carlo Gavazzi Space S.p.A. è il Prime industriale del progetto. Il progetto ha avuto inizio il 29 novembre 2007 e durerà 3 anni.

MORFEO I, of the Italian Space Agency (ASI)

Progetto preliminare del prodotto applicativo "Protezione Civile dalla frane" - MORFEO - dell'Agenzia Spaziale Italiana. I fenomeni franosi contribuiscono alla normale evoluzione del paesaggio italiano. Tali fenomeni diventano un problema - ossia pongono un rischio - quando interagiscono con la sfera delle attività e degli interessi umani. A causa dell'assetto geologico e geofisico, e delle condizioni climatiche e meteorologiche, ciò avviene con gran frequenza in Italia. Nel periodo tra il 1900 ed il 2002, in Italia si sono verificati oltre 30.000 eventi di frana che hanno prodotto un totale di oltre 169.000 fra vittime, dispersi o feriti. A tal proposito, l'Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) ha richiesto alla comunità industriale e scientifica nazionale un progetto preliminare per la definizione di un sistema di protezione civile dalle frane che si inserisca nel contesto del sistema nazionale di protezione civile. Il progetto Preliminare MORFEO, MOnitoraggio e Rischio da Frana mediante dati EO, in risposta alla richiesta di offerta avanzata da ASI, ha definito e disegnato un sistema nazionale di protezione civile dalle frane che sia realisticamente realizzabile allo stadio prototipale in tempi sufficientemente contenuti (3 anni), che soddisfi la maggior parte delle esigenze della variegata comunità di utenti interessati alle problematiche connesse al dissesto idrogeologico, e che sfrutti al meglio le conoscenze, le tecnologie, ed i prodotti EO disponibili o che lo diverranno a breve. Il progetto si basa sulla sistematica integrazione di dati EO e non-EO. L’integrazione coinvolge le tecniche di misura e di monitoraggio in situ, le indagini di campagna dirette ed indirette, i dati acquisiti da piattaforme remote (satellitari, aeree o terrestri), ed i modelli predittivi della distribuzione e del comportamento delle frane a scala locale e regionale. La proposta ha l’ambizione di essere pragmatica, basandosi in buona parte su quanto è già stato sperimentato nell'utilizzo e nell'integrazione di tecniche e prodotti EO per il riconoscimento, la mappatura, ed il monitoraggio dei movimenti franosi. Tali attività non sono intese come esclusivamente conoscitive, ma come strumenti a supporto della definizione della pericolosità da frana ed alla mitigazione del rischio ad essa connesso.

DAMOCLES

Damocles was aimed at developing and appling advanced modelling technologies to assess hazards posed by rapid slope failures in mountain areas and to disseminate these technologies to local end-users for applications in land use planning. In order to accompish these goals, the prject integrated reaserch-based model development with the direct involvement of local planning and civil protection authorities as data suppliers, advisors, and recipient of the project results. The project coordinator was Prof. James C. Bathurst, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Departmet of Civil Engineering, UK. Our twam ws involved primarely in: (i) the development of STONE, a 3-D rock fall simulation programme and (ii) the publications of the project results using Web-based GIS applications.

Spatial and temporal prediction of high impact landslides in the framework of a changing rainfall regime

This PRIN project, financed by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), addresses the complex issue of the spatial and temporal prediction of high-impact landslides in the framework of a changing climate, with emphasis on the changes on the precipitation regime. The coordinator of the project is Prof. Francesco Maria Guadagno, at the Università del Sannio, Benevento. Our Research Unit intends to refine existing estimates of the level of societal and individual risk posed by landslides and inundations to the population of Italy. Further, the Research Unit intends to evaluate the geographical and temporal variation of the risk posed by landslides and inundations in the 113-year period between 1900 and 2003.