Preliminary investigation of emerging suburban landsliding in Gisborne, New Zealand

Recently uplifted, soft Pleistocene sediments in northern New Zealand are particularly vulnerable to landsliding because they are often underlain by less permeable, clay-rich Neogene mudstone/siltstone rocks. Typically, instability is rainfall-induced, often due to a high intensity rainfall event from extra-tropical cyclones, following wetter months when antecedent soil moisture has increased. Using remote sensing, field surveys and laboratory testing, we report on some emerging slope instability hazards in the eastern suburbs of the coastal city of Gisborne, on the North Island. Retrogressive failure of the main landslide (at Wallis Road) is ongoing and has already led to the abandonment of one home, while an adjacent landslide (at Titirangi Drive) appears to be in an incipient phase of failure. The Wallis Road landslide has been particularly active from mid-2017, with slumping of the headscarp area transitioning to a constrained mudflow downslope, which then descends a cliff before terminating on the beach. In contrast, the incipient Titirangi Drive landslide at present displays much more subtle effects of deformation. While activity at both landslides appears to be linked to rainfall-induced increases in soil moisture, this is due to the effects of prolonged periods of rainfall rather than the passage of high intensity cyclonic storms.

Detecting Extreme Rainfall Events Using the WRF-ERDS Workflow: The 15 July 2020 Palermo Case Study

In this work, we describe the integration of Weather and Research Forecasting (WRF) forecasts produced by CIMA Research Foundation within ITHACA Extreme Rainfall Detection System (ERDS) to increase the forecasting skills of the overall early warning system. The entire workflow is applied to the heavy rainfall event that affected the city of Palermo on 15 July 2020, causing urban flooding due to an exceptional rainfall amount of more than 130 mm recorded in about 2.5 h. This rainfall event was not properly forecasted by meteorological models operational at the time of the event, thus not allowing to issue an adequate alert over that area. The results highlight that the improvement in the quantitative precipitation scenario forecast skills, supported by the adoption of the H2020 LEXIS computing facilities and by the assimilation of in situ observations, allowed the ERDS system to improve the prediction of the peak rainfall depths, thus paving the way to the potential issuing of an alert over the Palermo area.

Coal Moisture Variations in Response to Rainfall Event in Mines and Coal-Fired Power Plant Stockpiles—Part 1: Runoff, Infiltration, and Drainage

Excessive coal moisture leads to a lower heating value and power plant efficiency, and increased transportation costs. Therefore, coal stockpile management and moisture control are particularly important in regions with heavy precipitation. This paper and Part 2 address factors influencing moisture retention and migration in coal stockpiles. Part 1 of this paper series simulates phenomena of runoff, infiltration, and drainage in a stockpile after a rainfall event. Part 2 reports the effect of coal particle size and climate conditions on the rate and depth of moisture evaporation process within a coal stockpile. To perform this study, two coal samples were collected from the Witbank mine in South Africa. The results of the present study showed that smaller interparticulate void spaces because of the compaction or fines particles (−0.5 mm fraction) inhibited infiltration, leading to increased runoff volume. An increase stockpile slope increased the amount of runoff due to coal–water contact time reduction. The ability of heavy rainfall to destroy near-surface structures (erosion) happened more readily at stockpiles with high slopes and high fine content. The fine content significantly influenced the dewatering efficiency of drainage. Coals with higher ash contents had stronger moisture retention ability than that of other coals even though coals with low ash contents had a high fine content. This was ascribed to the contribution of the clay minerals, such as kaolinite, in the high ash coal. The results of this paper can be used for the effective management of coal stockpiles to prevent excessive moisture in stockpiles for the best possible utilisation of coal in power plants.

Role of mesoscale low and urbanization on exceptionally heavy rainfall event of 26th July 2005 over Mumbai : Some observational evidences

The 26th July 2005 exceptionally heavy rainfall event over Mumbai has been mainly attributed to a mesoscale low/vortex off Konkan coast and urban heat island (UHI) effect as demonstrated by various research groups. However, these studies are limited on observational evidence regarding the existence of the mesoscale vortex and UHI prior to and during this heavy rainfall event. Hence, a study has been undertaken to examine the existence of the mesoscale low off Konkan coast, which might have triggered this exceptionally heavy rainfall over Mumbai and the possible role of UHI effect over Mumbai on this heavy rainfall event. For this purpose the additional synoptic data from Mumbai high region and daily maximum and minimum temperatures over Mumbai region have been analysed. The analysis confirms the existence of a mesoscale low pressure area and isallobaric low to the west of Dahanu during 25th - 26th July 2005. The analysis of daily maximum and minimum temperatures over Mumbai region confirms the UHI effect during 25th -26th July, 2005.