Objective Definition of Rainfall Intensity-Duration Thresholds for Post-fire Flash Floods and Debris Flows in the Area Burned by the Waldo Canyon Fire, Colorado, USA

2015 ◽  
pp. 621-624
Author(s):  
M. Staley Dennis ◽  
E. Gartner Joseph ◽  
W. Kean Jason
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Rainfall Intensity ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
Definition Of

Objective definition of rainfall intensity–duration thresholds for the initiation of post-fire debris flows in southern California

Landslides ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 547-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis M. Staley ◽  
Jason W. Kean ◽  
Susan H. Cannon ◽  
Kevin M. Schmidt ◽  
Jayme L. Laber
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Rainfall Intensity ◽  
Fire Debris ◽  
Definition Of

Choose you own scientific experiment: Triggering debris flows and flash floods

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thea Turkington
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
The Other ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Scientific Experiment

Landslides and flash floods result in many fatalities around the globe. Understanding what triggers these events is therefore vital, although how to approach this problem is not straight forward. After background information for the experiment and some guidelines, two options are presented to learn more about the triggers of debris flows: (A) using rainfall or (B) the atmospheric conditions. You can then choose the option that appears more useful and interesting to you (you can always go back and read the other experiment afterwards). The article then ends with a reflection on the results.

RAINFALL INTENSITY-DURATION THRESHOLDS FOR POST-WILDFIRE DEBRIS FLOWS IN ARIZONA

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carissa A. Raymond ◽  
◽  
Luke McGuire ◽  
Ann M. Youberg
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Rainfall Intensity

scholarly journals Empirical atmospheric thresholds for debris flows and flash floods in the southern French Alps

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1517-1530 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Turkington ◽  
J. Ettema ◽  
C. J. van Westen ◽  
K. Breinl
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Convective Rainfall ◽  
French Alps ◽  
Mountainous Regions

Abstract. Debris flows and flash floods are often preceded by intense, convective rainfall. The establishment of reliable rainfall thresholds is an important component for quantitative hazard and risk assessment, and for the development of an early warning system. Traditional empirical thresholds based on peak intensity, duration and antecedent rainfall can be difficult to verify due to the localized character of the rainfall and the absence of weather radar or sufficiently dense rain gauge networks in mountainous regions. However, convective rainfall can be strongly linked to regional atmospheric patterns and profiles. There is potential to employ this in empirical threshold analysis. This work develops a methodology to determine robust thresholds for flash floods and debris flows utilizing regional atmospheric conditions derived from ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis data, comparing the results with rain-gauge-derived thresholds. The method includes selecting the appropriate atmospheric indicators, categorizing the potential thresholds, determining and testing the thresholds. The method is tested in the Ubaye Valley in the southern French Alps (548 km2), which is known to have localized convection triggered debris flows and flash floods. This paper shows that instability of the atmosphere and specific humidity at 700 hPa are the most important atmospheric indicators for debris flows and flash floods in the study area. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates that atmospheric reanalysis data are an important asset, and could replace rainfall measurements in empirical exceedance thresholds for debris flows and flash floods.

Modelling of debris flows and flash floods propagation: a case study from Italian Alps

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Leonardo Cascini ◽  
Sabatino Cuomo ◽  
Manuel Pastor ◽  
Ilaria Rendina
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Italian Alps

scholarly journals Landslides after wildfire: initiation, magnitude, and mobility

Landslides ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 2631-2641
Author(s):  
Francis K. Rengers ◽  
Luke A. McGuire ◽  
Nina S. Oakley ◽  
Jason W. Kean ◽  
Dennis M. Staley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Rainfall Intensity ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mass Wasting ◽  
Soil Infiltration ◽  
Infiltration Capacity ◽  
The Past ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Southwestern Usa

Abstract In the semiarid Southwestern USA, wildfires are commonly followed by runoff-generated debris flows because wildfires remove vegetation and ground cover, which reduces soil infiltration capacity and increases soil erodibility. At a study site in Southern California, we initially observed runoff-generated debris flows in the first year following fire. However, at the same site three years after the fire, the mass-wasting response to a long-duration rainstorm with high rainfall intensity peaks was shallow landsliding rather than runoff-generated debris flows. Moreover, the same storm caused landslides on unburned hillslopes as well as on slopes burned 5 years prior to the storm and areas burned by successive wildfires, 10 years and 3 years before the rainstorm. The landslide density was the highest on the hillslopes that had burned 3 years beforehand, and the hillslopes burned 5 years prior to the storm had low landslide densities, similar to unburned areas. We also found that reburning (i.e., two wildfires within the past 10 years) had little influence on landslide density. Our results indicate that landscape susceptibility to shallow landslides might return to that of unburned conditions after as little as 5 years of vegetation recovery. Moreover, most of the landslide activity was on steep, equatorial-facing slopes that receive higher solar radiation and had slower rates of vegetation regrowth, which further implicates vegetation as a controlling factor on post-fire landslide susceptibility. Finally, the total volume of sediment mobilized by the year 3 landslides was much smaller than the year 1 runoff-generated debris flows, and the landslides were orders of magnitude less mobile than the runoff-generated debris flows.

scholarly journals Analysis of the ground vibration generated by debris flows and other torrential processes at the Rebaixader monitoring site (Central Pyrenees, Spain)

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 929-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Abancó ◽  
M. Hürlimann ◽  
J. Moya
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Debris Flows ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Ground Vibration ◽  
Monitoring Site ◽  
Velocity Signal ◽  
Vibration Sensors ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Flow Detection ◽  
Central Pyrenees

Abstract. Monitoring of debris flows using ground vibration sensors has increased in the last two decades. However, the correct interpretation of the signals still presents ambiguity. In the Rebaixader monitoring site (Central Pyrenees, Spain) two different ground vibration stations are installed. At the first station the ground velocity signal is transformed into an impulses-per-second signal (low frequency, 1 Hz). The analysis of the data recorded at this station show that the shape of the impulses signal is one of the key parameters to describe the evolution of the event. At the second station the ground velocity signal is directly recorded at high frequency (250 Hz). The results achieved at this station show that the differences in time series and spectral analysis are helpful to describe the temporal evolution of the events. In addition, some general outcomes were obtained: the attenuation of the signal with the distance has been identified as linear to exponential; and the assembly of the geophones to the terrain has an important effect on the amplification of the signal. All these results highlight that the definition of ground vibration thresholds for debris-flow detection or warning purposes is a difficult task; and that influence of site-specific conditions is notable.

Geomorphic process-disturbance corridors: a variation on a principle of landscape ecology

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Butler
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Ecology ◽  
Debris Flows ◽  
Snow Avalanches ◽  
Riparian Corridors ◽  
Geomorphic Process ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Matrix Patches ◽  
Geomorphic Processes ◽  
Source And Sink

The paradigm of landscape ecology describes a landscape as a mosaic of landscape elements including the matrix, patches and corridors. Corridors are described as linear disruptions to the matrix, produced by anthropogenic actions or by streams which produce riparian corridors. Snow avalanches and debris flows are other geomorphic processes that should be considered as geomorphic process corridors rather than as disturbance patches. They possess requisite linearity, and they accomplish the five functions of a corridor: habitat, conduit, filter, source and sink. The definition of corridor in landscape ecology should be modified to embrace the concept of geomorphic process corridors.

A clear and present danger: Ladakh's increasing vulnerability to flash floods and debris flows

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (22) ◽  
pp. 4214-4223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan D. Ziegler ◽  
Sebastian I. Cantarero ◽  
Robert J. Wasson ◽  
Pradeep Srivastava ◽  
Sonam Spalzin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Clear And Present Danger
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