scholarly journals Active landslides in the Rogun Catchment, Tajikistan, and their river damming hazard potential

Landslides ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Jones ◽  
Andrea Manconi ◽  
Alexander Strom

AbstractThe region of Tajikistan where the Rogun Hydropower Project is currently under construction has experienced large and catastrophic slope failures in the past, often triggered by earthquakes. Co-seismic slope failures are thus common and pose a high hazard potential; however, to date, no specific analysis of slope activity in this area has been presented in international journals. Here, we present an inventory of active landslides identified through satellite imagery analysis and in particular by exploiting space-borne differential radar interferometry. Surface displacements provide the basis for the detection of active slope instabilities, which are then further classified by using geomorphological indicators visible in optical satellite imagery. Additionally, the proximity of active landslides to tectonic lineaments, as well as regional seismicity, is analysed to investigate potential relationships and to provide an integrated river damming hazard potential. The results show that approximately 31% of all detected landslides would have a high damming hazard potential upon catastrophic failure, highlighting the importance of such phenomena for efficient long-term land use planning and management of hydropower plants.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Jones ◽  
Andrea Manconi ◽  
Alexander Strom

<p>The stability and lifetime of construction projects in mountain areas are strongly dependent on local slope activity. Hydropower projects in particular are often affected and endangered by landslide damming and flood wave generation due to slope failures, and thus extensive studies of ground surface instability are vital to assess associated hazards. The Rogun Hydropower Project HPP located in Tajikistan in the Vakhsh – Surkhob River network is currently under construction. The site lies within the seismically active Tien Shan and Pamir Mountain ranges of Central Asia and in particular the Peter the First Range. This region is marked by extreme topography, steep slopes and extensive valley networks and has experienced large and catastrophic slope failures in the past, of which a multitude have been triggered by earthquakes of magnitude M≥4. Co-seismic failures are thus common in the area and present a high geotechnical hazard; however, to date no information on active slope instabilities in its catchment area exists.</p><p>Here we present an inventory of slope instabilities in the Rogun Dam catchment area based on optical and synthetic aperture radar differential interferometry (DInSAR) remote sensing techniques. Sentinel-1 multi–temporal differential interferograms are generated for summer periods of 2016 – 2018 to detect surface displacements. Slope velocities are estimated based on a comparison between differential interferograms, while landslide types are identified based on a geomorphological classification. A likelihood analysis is developed to understand the state of activity of slopes and provide a semi-quantitative confidence thereof. The collected data is subsequently integrated to perform spatial and statistical analyses in order to perform a proximity analysis, assess a co-seismic link and evaluate the damming hazard potential to the Rogun HPP. Results show that a clear majority of detected features are located within 10 km of major faults and in zones of high peak ground acceleration, indicating a potential seismic influence or triggering. Some active slopes show an increase in surface displacement after a particular earthquake event and equally suggest a potential link. Moreover, we developed a damming hazard analysis for slopes detected as active in Sentinel-1 differential interferograms, considering the likelihood of movements, their distance to rivers and faults, as well as estimated volume and velocity per year. The results indicate that a total of 29.6 % of all features constitute a high damming hazard potential in case of catastrophic failure, with 4.5 % located within 1 km of the Rogun Dam reservoir. Although many potential sites are not directly on the slopes rising above the future reservoir, hazardous locations in the catchment upstream pose a threat due to possibility of significant outburst floods in case of the dammed lake outburst.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Yu-xiao Wang ◽  
Yu-jie Wang ◽  
Long Jiang ◽  
Ping Sun ◽  
Xingchao Lin ◽  
...  

Dahuaqiao Hydropower Station is the sixth cascade hydropower project on the upper stream of the Lancang River, and a number of slope instabilities were found in the reservoir area before reservoir impoundment. The reservoir impoundment and fluctuation of the reservoir water level generally reactivate these potential slope failures or trigger new ones. Therefore, how to cope with the influence of these slope failures on dam safety has always been the focus of attention. However, it is unwise to stabilize all these potentially instable slopes by remedial measures. Based on a two-parameter and four-level back analysis method proposed in this paper, reasonable measures for landslide management are suggested on the basis of the in situ monitoring results and back analysis of geomaterial strength parameters.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 241-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Fischer ◽  
R. S. Purves ◽  
C. Huggel ◽  
J. Noetzli ◽  
W. Haeberli

Abstract. The ongoing debate about the effects of changes in the high-mountain cryosphere on rockfalls and rock avalanches suggests a need for more knowledge about characteristics and distribution of recent rock-slope instabilities. This paper investigates 56 sites with slope failures between 1900 and 2007 in the central European Alps with respect to their geological and topographical settings and zones of possible permafrost degradation and glacial recession. Analyses of the temporal distribution show an increase in frequency within the last decades. A large proportion of the slope failures (60%) originated from a relatively small area above 3000 m a.s.l. (i.e. 10% of the entire investigation area). This increased proportion of detachment zones above 3000 m a.s.l. is postulated to be a result of a combination of factors, namely a larger proportion of high slope angles, high periglacial weathering due to recent glacier retreat (almost half of the slope failures having occurred in areas with recent deglaciation), and widespread permafrost occurrence. The lithological setting appears to influence volume rather than frequency of a slope failure. However, our analyses show that not only the changes in cryosphere, but also other factors which remain constant over long periods play an important role in slope failures.


2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayhan Demirbas

The aim of biomass development projects is to identify whether it is possible to utilize biomass in the energy production sector, by substituting a portion of conventional fuel by biomass, to perform combined combustion. Electricity production from biomass has been found to be a promising method in the nearest future. Turkey's annual biomass potential is 117 million tons or 32 Mtoe. The future of biomass electricity generation lies in biomass integrated gasification/gas turbine technology, which offers high-energy conversion efficiencies. The major research and developments of the biomass power industry are focusing on gasifier scale-up, system analysis and site-specific commercial feasibility studies. Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GW, but only 125 GW of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used. By the commissioning of new hydropower plants, which are under construction, 36% of the economically usable potential of the country would be tapped.


2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Ranjan Kumar Dahal

Nepal is considered as one of the earthquake-prone countries in the region. Earthquake is a major concern of Nepal because of rapid population growth, poor land use planning, precarious settlement patterns, and poorly implemented building code. Earthquakes in Nepal have been reported since 1255 while major earthquakes were recorded in 1408, 1681, 1810, 1833, and 1866, 1934, 1980, 1988, 2011, and 2015. An earthquake in September 18, 2011 measuring 6.9 in Richter scale, killed 6 people and injured 30 people in Nepal. There were many roadside slope damages near the epicenter area. To assess the roadside slope damages after this earthquake, a field visit was conducted and a landslide inventory map along the roadside slope was prepared for most damaged area. This paper provides a comprehensive information about earthquake-induced slope failures occurred in the Mechi Highway of eastern Nepal and also discusses an approach of earthquake-induced slope failures hazard mapping in Nepal.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Upasna Chandarana Kothari ◽  
Moe Momayez

Geomechanical analysis plays a major role in providing a safe working environment in an active mine. Geomechanical analysis includes but is not limited to providing active monitoring of pit walls and predicting slope failures. During the analysis of a slope failure, it is essential to provide a safe prediction, that is, a predicted time of failure prior to the actual failure. Modern-day monitoring technology is a powerful tool used to obtain the time and deformation data used to predict the time of slope failure. This research aims to demonstrate the use of machine learning (ML) to predict the time of slope failures. Twenty-two datasets of past failures collected from radar monitoring systems were utilized in this study. A two-layer feed-forward prediction network was used to make multistep predictions into the future. The results show an 86% improvement in the predicted values compared to the inverse velocity (IV) method. Eighty-two percent of the failure predictions made using ML method fell in the safe zone. While 18% of the predictions were in the unsafe zone, all the unsafe predictions were within five minutes of the actual failure time, all practical purposes making the entire set of predictions safe and reliable.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-143
Author(s):  
Marcin Feltynowski

Abstract The article presents the issues of spatial planning on the case study of Łódź. Of significance in Łódź are its outer peripheries, which due to their natural value have become areas that must be protected and monitored in order to limit the anthropogenic impact. Protection of these areas may be carried out through the usage of instruments such as local land-use plans which help to limit the green field development phenomenon and to look after the biologically active surfaces within the borders of the city. The second step which may concern the areas with local land-use plans, as well as those without current local land-use plans, is monitoring. Such monitoring may be carried out through the analyses of satellite imagery of the city area. Such activities are a kind of low-budget enterprises which bring many benefits at a very small cost resulting from the purchase of satellite imagery. From the perspective of the authorities, a crucial fact is that the material collected during the analyses of the satellite imagery may be used in the initial phase of the planning process as an element of the inventory of areas designated for the development of land-use plans.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document