Publications
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Landslide risk in the San Francisco Bay region
We have used historical records of damaging landslides triggered by rainstorms, and a newly developed Probabilistic Landslide Assessment Cost Estimation System (PLACES), to estimate the numbers and direct costs of future landslides in the San Francisco Bay region. The estimated annual cost of future landslides in the entire region is about US $15 million (year 2000 $). The estimated annual cost is
Authors
J. A. Coe, R. A. Crovelli
Challenges in making a seismic hazard map for Alaska and the Aleutians
We present a summary of the data and analyses leading to the revision of the time-independent probabilistic seismic hazard maps of Alaska and the Aleutians. These maps represent a revision of existing maps based on newly obtained data, and reflect best current judgments about methodology and approach. They have been prepared following the procedures and assumptions made in the preparation of the 2
Authors
R. L. Wesson, O.S. Boyd, C.S. Mueller, A. D. Frankel
Development of hazard-compatible building fragility and vulnerability models
We present a methodology for transforming the structural and non-structural fragility functions in HAZUS into a format that is compatible with conventional seismic hazard analysis information. The methodology makes use of the building capacity (or pushover) curves and related building parameters provided in HAZUS. Instead of the capacity spectrum method applied in HAZUS, building response is estim
Authors
E. Karaca, N. Luco
An illustrated landslide handbook for developing nations
As landslides continue to be a hazard that account for large numbers of human and animal casualties, property loss, and infrastructure damage, as well as impacts on the natural environment, it is incumbent on developed nations that resources be allocated to educate affected populations in less developed nations, and provide them with tools to effectively manage this hazard. Given that the engineer
Authors
Lynn M. Highland, Peter Bobrowsky
Rapid Assessment of earthquake-induced landsliding
The Pacific Northwest in the United States including Seattle, Washington, experienced unusually heavy rainfall in the winters of 1995/1996 and 1996/1997, which caused numerous landslides. Following these two winters, the City of Seattle resolved to reduce future landslide losses within its jurisdiction. By coincidence, in 1997 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a five-year project designed to
Authors
J. W. Godt, B. Sener, K.L. Verdin, D. J. Wald, P.S. Earle, E. L. Harp, R. W. Jibson
Hematite spherules at Meridiani: results from MI, Mini-TES, and Pancam
We report on observations of hematite‐bearing spherules at Meridiani Planum made using the Microscopic Imager (MI), Mini‐Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini‐TES), and Panoramic Camera (Pancam) instruments on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Spherules were observed on soil surfaces and in outcrop rocks, both on undisturbed surfaces and in abraded surfaces ground using the Rock Abrasion Tool
Authors
W. M. Calvin, J.D. Shoffner, J. R. Johnson, A.H. Knoll, J.M. Pocock, S. W. Squyres, C.M. Weitz, R. E. Arvidson, J.F. Bell, P. R. Christensen, P. A. de Souza, W. H. Farrand, T.D. Glotch, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, B.L. Jolliff, A.T. Knudson, S. M. McLennan, A.D. Rogers, S.D. Thompson
The USGS Earthquake Notification Service (ENS): Customizable notifications of earthquakes around the globe
At the beginning of 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) introduced a new automated Earthquake Notification Service (ENS) to take the place of the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) "Bigquake" system and the various other individual EHP e-mail list-servers for separate regions in the United States. These included northern California, southern Californ
Authors
Lisa A. Wald, David J. Wald, Stan Schwarz, Bruce Presgrave, Paul S. Earle, Eric Martinez, David Oppenheimer
Modeling landslide recurrence in Seattle, Washington, USA
To manage the hazard associated with shallow landslides, decision makers need an understanding of where and when landslides may occur. A variety of approaches have been used to estimate the hazard from shallow, rainfall-triggered landslides, such as empirical rainfall threshold methods or probabilistic methods based on historical records. The wide availability of Geographic Information Systems (GI
Authors
Diana Salciarini, Jonathan W. Godt, William Z. Savage, Rex L. Baum, Pietro Conversini
Radargrammetry on three planets
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can provide useful images in situations where passive optical imaging cannot, either because the microwaves used can penetrate atmospheric clouds, because active imaging can "see in the dark," or both. We have participated in the NASA Magellan mission to Venus in the 1990s and the current NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan, which have used SAR to se
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus
Light-toned salty soils and co-existing Si-rich species discovered by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in Columbia Hills
Light-toned soils were exposed, through serendipitous excavations by Spirit Rover wheels, at eight locations in the Columbia Hills. Their occurrences were grouped into four types on the basis of geomorphic settings. At three major exposures, the light-toned soils are hydrous and sulfate-rich. The spatial distributions of distinct types of salty soils vary substantially: with centimeter-scaled hete
Authors
Alian Wang, J.F. Bell, Ron Li, J. R. Johnson, W. H. Farrand, E.A. Cloutis, R. E. Arvidson, L. Crumpler, S. W. Squyres, S. M. McLennan, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, S. W. Ruff, A.T. Knudson, Wei Chen, R. Greenberger
Ferguson rock slide buries California State Highway near Yosemite National Park
During spring 2006, talus from the toe area of a rock-block slide of about 800,000 m3 buried California State Highway 140, one of the main routes into heavily-visited Yosemite National Park, USA. Closure of the highway for 92 days caused business losses of about 4.8 million USD. The rock slide, composed of slate and phyllite, moved slowly downslope from April to June 2006, creating a fresh head sc
Authors
Edwin L. Harp, Mark E. Reid, Jonathan W. Godt, Jerome V. DeGraff, Alan J. Gallegos
Columbia Hills, Mars: aeolian features seen from the ground and orbit
Abundant wind-related features occur along Spirit's traverse into the Columbia Hills over the basaltic plains of Gusev Crater. Most of the windblown sands are probably derived from weathering of rocks within the crater, and possibly from deposits associated with Ma'adim Vallis. Windblown particles act as agents of abrasion, forming ventifacts, and are organized in places into various bed forms. Wi
Authors
Ronald Greeley, Patrick L. Whelley, Lynn D.V. Neakrase, Raymond E. Arvidson, Nathan T. Bridges, Nathalie A. Cabrol, Phillip R. Christensen, Kaichang Di, Daniel J. Foley, Matthew P. Golombek, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Amy Knudson, Ruslan O. Kuzmin, Ron Li, Timothy Michaels, Steven W. Squyres, Robert Sullivan, Shane D. Thompson