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Publications

Filter Total Items: 884

Long-term soil-water tension measurements in semi-arid environments: A method for automated tensiometer refilling

Tensiometer-equipped data acquisition systems measure and record positive and negative soil-water pressures. These data contribute to studies in hillslope hydrology, including analyses of rainfall runoff, near-surface hydrologic response, and slope stability. However, the unique ability of a tensiometer to rapidly and accurately measure pre- and post-saturation subsurface pressures requires mainte
Authors
Joel B. Smith, Jason W. Kean

Quantifying post-wildfire hillslope erosion with lidar

Following a wildfire, flooding and debris- flow hazards are common and pose a threat to human life and infrastructure in steep burned terrain. Wildfire enhances both water runoff and soil erosion, which ultimately shape the debris flow potential. The erosional processes that route excess sediment from hillslopes to debris-flow channels in recently burned areas, however, are poorly constrained. I
Authors
Francis K. Rengers, Luke McGuire

Climate dictates magnitude of asymmetry in soil depth and hillslope gradient

Hillslope asymmetry is often attributed to differential eco‐hydro‐geomorphic processes resulting from aspect‐related differences in insolation. At midlatitudes, polar facing hillslopes are steeper, wetter, have denser vegetation, and deeper soils than their equatorial facing counterparts. We propose that at regional scales, the magnitude in insolation‐driven hillslope asymmetry is sensitive to var
Authors
Assaf Inbar, Petter Nyman, Francis K. Rengers, Patrick N. J. Lane, Gary J. Sheridan

Developing hydro-meteorological thresholds for shallow landslide initiation and early warning

Consistent relations between shallow landslide initiation and associated rainfall characteristics remain difficult to identify, due largely to the complex hydrological and geological processes causing slopes to be predisposed to failure and those processes that subsequently trigger failures. Considering the importance of hillslope hydrology for rainfall-induced landsliding, we develop and test a m
Authors
Benjamin B. Mirus, Michael D. Morphew, Joel B. Smith

Identifying physics‐based thresholds for rainfall‐induced landsliding

Most regional landslide warning systems utilize empirically derived rainfall thresholds that are difficult to improve without recalibration to additional landslide events. To address this limitation, we explored the use of synthetic rainfall to generate thousands of possible storm patterns and coupled them with a physics‐based hydrology and slope stability model for various antecedent soil saturat
Authors
Matthew A. Thomas, Benjamin B. Mirus, Brian D. Collins

Seismic and acoustic signatures of surficial mass movements at volcanoes

Surficial mass movements, such as debris avalanches, rock falls, lahars, pyroclastic flows, and outburst floods, are a dominant hazard at many volcanoes worldwide. Understanding these processes, cataloging their spatio-temporal occurrence, and detecting, tracking, and characterizing these events would advance the science of volcano monitoring and help mitigate hazards. Seismic and acoustic methods
Authors
Kate E. Allstadt, Robin S Matoza, Andrew Lockhart, Seth C. Moran, Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach, Matthew M. Haney, Weston Thelen, Stephen D. Malone

A global empirical model for near real-time assessment of seismically induced landslides

Earthquake-triggered landslides are a significant hazard in seismically active regions, but our ability to assess the hazard they pose in near real-time is limited. In this study, we present a new globally applicable model for seismically induced landslides based on the most comprehensive global dataset available; we use 23 landslide inventories that span a range of earthquake magnitudes and clim
Authors
M. Anna Nowicki Jessee, M.W. Hamburger, Kate E. Allstadt, David J. Wald, H. Tanyas, Mike Hearne, E.M. Thompson

Bedrock mapping and seismic hazard assessment at Gold Basin landslide, Washington

The Gold Basin landslide is located along the South Fork Stillaguamish River, within the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in western Washington State. Recent concerns related to slope stability after the 2014 State Route 530 Landslide near Oso, Washington, forced the closure of the U.S. Forest Service Gold Basin Campground in May of 2014. In addition to safety concerns for National Forest vi
Authors
Lydia M. Staisch

An updated method for estimating landslide‐event magnitude

Summary statistics derived from the frequency–area distribution (FAD) of inventories of triggered landslides allows for direct comparison of landslides triggered by one event (e.g. earthquake, rainstorm) with another. Such comparisons are vital to understand links between the landslide‐event and the environmental characteristics of the area affected. This could lead to methods for rapid estimation
Authors
Hakan Tanyas, Kate E. Allstadt, Cees J. van Weston

Using stereo satellite imagery to account for ablation, entrainment, and compaction in volume calculations for rock avalanches on Glaciers: Application to the 2016 Lamplugh Rock Avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

The use of preevent and postevent digital elevation models (DEMs) to estimate the volume of rock avalanches on glaciers is complicated by ablation of ice before and after the rock avalanche, scour of material during rock avalanche emplacement, and postevent ablation and compaction of the rock avalanche deposit. We present a model to account for these processes in volume estimates of rock avalanche
Authors
Erin Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe, Wendy Zhou

Landslides triggered by the 14 November 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake, New Zealand

The 14 November 2016 MwMw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake generated more than 10,000 landslides over a total area of about 10,000  km210,000  km2, with the majority concentrated in a smaller area of about 3600  km23600  km2. The largest landslide triggered by the earthquake had an approximate volume of 20(±2)  M m320(±2)  M m3, with a runout distance of about 2.7 km, forming a dam on the Hapuku River. In
Authors
C. Massey, D. Townsend, Ellen Rathje, Kate E. Allstadt, B. Lukovic, Yoshihiro Kaneko, Brendon A. Bradley, J. Wartman, Randall W. Jibson, D. N. Petley, Nick Horspool, I. Hamling, J. Carey, S. Cox, John Davidson, S. Dellow, Jonathan W. Godt, Christopher Holden, Katherine D. Jones, Anna E. Kaiser, M. Little, B. Lyndsell, S. McColl, R. Morgenstern, Francis K. Rengers, D. Rhoades, B. Rosser, D. Strong, C. Singeisen, M. Villeneuve

Integrating real-time subsurface hydrologic monitoring with empirical rainfall thresholds to improve landslide early warning

Early warning for rainfall-induced shallow landsliding can help reduce fatalities and economic losses. Although these commonly occurring landslides are typically triggered by subsurface hydrological processes, most early warning criteria rely exclusively on empirical rainfall thresholds and other indirect proxies for subsurface wetness. We explore the utility of explicitly accounting for anteceden
Authors
Benjamin B. Mirus, Rachel E. Becker, Rex L. Baum, Joel B. Smith
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