Theme: Technology
How to define rainfall thresholds automatically
The empirical rainfall thresholds while representing a useful approach used to forecast landslide occurrence in wide areas, are affected by several uncertainties related to the rainfall and the landslide information accuracy, the reconstruction of the rainfall events responsible for the failure, and the method to calculate the thresholds. Definition of the rainfall conditions responsible for landslides is a crucial issue and may contribute to ... Fiber optic sensors engineering for the monitoring of structural reinforcements on unstable slopes
Geo-Hydrological risks are one of the main sources of economic losses for our country causing a huge number of victims and damages. From 1966 to 2015, landslides and floods caused 1948 casualties, 3524 injured and more than 412,000 displaced people. The Venetian mountain has always been subject to major landslides and, almost every year, new emergencies occur with the intensification of the autumn and spring rains, which are increasing due to ... Smart Monitoring of basins subject to high geohydrological risk
The R&D project SMoRI starts from two needs to be reconciled. The first, coming from the scientific community, concerns a best definition of integrated monitoring systems aimed at controlling the conditions of high geo-hydrological risk. The second need is to acquire by the industrial partners a specialized know-how on new technologies related to Cloud Computing and I.o.T. and on the environmental ... RiST2, the research go on
The researches at high-elevation sites continues, thanks to the RiST2 project (co-financed by Fondazione CRT of Torino). The study area is the Bessanese glacial basin. The Alpine environment and in particular the cryosphere, is responding quickly and with great intensity to climate change. The air temperature increase observed in the Alps urge the scientific communities involved in natural instability studies to consider not only air ... We monitor the Planpincieux Glacier, along the Italian side of the Grandes Jorasses, Aosta Valley
Glaciers are typical of the Alpine landscape, and an important source of water. Undoubtedly fascinating, glaciers are very complex and yet surprisingly poorly known. In the Alps, many studies focus on the volumetric changes of glaciers, proving their almost systematic reduction in the current climatic period. Little is known about the daily behaviour of Alpine glaciers. This is partly due to the inhospitable and not easily accessible ... Research and development of optical fiber sensors for geotechnical and environmental monitoring
Application of optical fibers is generally aimed at large bandwidth transmission. Few people know that the proposal of optical fibers as sensing elements is almost as old as their proposal as transmission media, and over the last two decades fibre optic sensor (FOS) technology has assumed a dominant role in several fields of application. As a matter of fact, FOSs offer many advantages with respect to legacy electronic and mechanic sensors. ... STRESS
The STRESS project is intended to design, implement and test a prototype of a Spatial Information Infrastructure (SII) enabling the provision to spatial planners and risk managers of new data and tools to improve hydro-geological susceptibility, hazard and impact assessment as well as to experiment alternative decision making ... E-TECH New technologies for support and prevention of emergencies
The management of natural hazards tends radically to distribute responsibilities at the local level, as the first civil protection actors. Prevention and preparedness are long-term goals, rooted in volunteer expertise, and awareness of local citizens, using solutions of "crowd-sourced mappers". The objective is designing mobile applications, sensors and dashboard for citizens and volunteers of civil protection, with pilot study cases selected ... Methodology for the estimation of environmental risk indicators, using satellite remote sensing techniques
EPSILON Italia, the leader of the partnership proposing the project, is a SME, located in Calabria, specializing in the delivery of advanced services for the protection and management of natural resources, with a high standard of quality and technological content. The SME is also actively involved in the development and implementation of new technologies and in R&D activities conducted both in their own and in partnership with universities ... Dikes and Debris Flows Monitoring by Novel Optical Fiber Sensors
With more than 5 million people affected, more than 1000 killed, and with estimated total damages exceeding 4.5 billion Euros just in Europe and during the last decade, floods are among the most disruptive natural events threatening our Society. Due to increase in extreme weather events and rapid socio-economic developments in vulnerable locations, the risks connected to floods in general are growing rapidly, and the awareness of these risks ... RiST project: Scientific and Technological research in the Bessanese glacial basin (Balme, NW Italian Alps)
The Alpine environment, and in particular the high-altitude one, is responding quickly and with great intensity to climate change, through evidences of geomorphological, hydrological and ecological type. Mountain glacier shrinkage and related outcropping of rock walls and debris, changes of the precipitation and temperature patterns, are some of the main terrestrial indicators of climatic ... Threedimensional Displacement Analysis
The 3DA software is a new procedure that allows retrieving in near-real-time 3D surface deformation models starting from data acquired via robotized total stations or others system that acquire the surface displacements. The measurements are first pre-processed and then implemented on 3D maps that include vector arrows representative of the intensities and of the real directions of motion in a given system of coordinates. The 3D surface ... Mappatura, Modellazione e Previsione Multiscala dei RIschi GEo-idroLogici
Italy has a tradition of scientific research and technological development on hazardous natural phenomena in general, and specifically on geo-hydrological hazards. Within the CNR, the “Progetti Finalizzati” Soil Conservation and Geodynamics (in the ’70s and ’80s), and GNDCI – the National Group for the Defence from Hydrogeological Disasters (in the ’80s and ’90s), have contributed to the advancement of knowledge ... Cartographic web services
We provide maps and layers through standard OGC services and WebGIS applications.
Our aim is to disseminate information on landslides and floods hazards and the related risk.
More specifically the services focus on thematic data concerning landslides and floods, including: (i) landslide inventory maps at different scales and covering different geographical areas, (ii) landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk maps, and (iii) information on ... Land cover change detection and monitoring methodologies based on the combined use of S1 and S2 for natural resources and hazard management
ESA Sentinels missions will provide enhanced capabilities in the revisit frequency, and the coverage. Their complete exploitation is in the combination of the two to advantage of a further increased revisiting time and in the use of different wavelenght domains. This reflects in the capabilities to detect features of changes induced by different factors including natural hazards and crop ... Innovative technologies at high environmental sustainability in the forest-based sector
Millennium Ecosystems Assessment (ONU). Intergovernmental Convention on Climate and European Convention on the Protection of Forests. Integration of ground and remote technologies for Earth Observation and development of multi-resolution (spectral, spatial and temporal). Sustainable Forest Management (Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe). Decision support systems in the forest sector. Industrial technologies of the ... Spectral signatures library for semi-automatic event landslide recognition and mapping
Earthquakes and strong rainfall precipitations, cause worldwide landslide. Inventories of the ground effects of an event must be prepared in a few days or less for the residual risk management. Satellite images and image analysis techniques have started to back up traditional mapping methods. Purpose of this project is to increase the automatization of image ... Space advanced project for excellence in research and enterprise
The project SAPERE is an Industrial Research oriented project (PON and FAR funds) focused on promoting the competitiveness of the National Aerospace Technology Cluster. The participants to the project include 8 private firms of the Cluster (industrial component), with Thales Alenia Space Italia being the leader, as well as academic (University) and research (CNR-National Research Council) ...
RelationsHips between meteo-climAtic paraMeters and ground surface deforMation time sEries in mountain enviRonments
There is a systematic lack of information on the effects of the climate and environmental changes on the frequency and the intensity of landslides and their triggering phenomena (Huggel et al., 2012). The problem is particular severe in mountain area, where natural and human-driven climatic and environmental changes may alter significantly the frequency and the intensity of the slope processes, with largely unknown short and long-term effects ... Analysis of instabilities in the historical centre of Mesagne
The instabilities that affected the historical part of Mesagne (Brindisi province, Apulia) since January 21, 2014, induced the local Authority to issue evacuation decrees for 18 families, corresponding to a total of 26 people. CNR IRPI was asked to provide scientific support for the identification of the processes at the origin of the ... Mobile Application for Emergency Response and Support
The responsibilities within natural hazards involve citizens and volunteers as first actors of civil protection. The prevention implicates technical volunteers, but the priority implies now awareness of local citizens. The involvement of population creates context-specific strategies of territorial surveillance and management. MAppERS empowers “crowd-sourced mappers” through smart phone applications and sensors, with geo-tagged information, ... The 3 December 2013 Montescaglioso landslide
On December 3, 2013, a large landslide activated on the SW slope of Montescaglioso (Matera province, Basilicata), affecting an area with evidence of past instability. The landslide involved some 500 m of the main road to the village, and also interested several houses and other ... Advanced and Integrated Monitoring of Earth DAMS
The project AIM-DAMS is aimed at developing a laboratory of integrated and advanced environmental monitoring for the control of the behavior of the earth-dams due to the different factors acting on the dams during their lifetime. Based on the integration of innovative and non-invasive sensors, as well as recent monitoring techniques and numerical modelling, the project is intended to fulfill the need of the dam management agencies of using ... Spatial-temporal evolution of glacial resources in the Italian Alps over the last 100 years
Glaciers are widely recognized as the best terrestrial indicator of climate change. Nevertheless, occurred changes, even in recent times, are often poorly known. Italy has a unique, secular history of glaciological documentation that, jointly with a rich wealth of spatial, multitemporal data, allows an accurate reconstruction of recent glacier evolution. Unfortunately, these data are dispersed and/or difficult to ... SAR change detection methodologies for event landslide mapping
The project explores and implements multi-scale and multi-sensor SAR change detection methodologies for event landslide mapping. Automated analysis for change detection is a challenging task due
to the inherent noisiness of SAR imagery and also to the high sensitivity to texture variability due to different acquisition angles. Moreover, pre-processing (de-speckling) may lead to the degradation
of the geometrical details and affect the ... Alarm and monitoring systems for debris and mud flows
Monitoring of debris flows in instrumented areas is carried out since many years in different Countries worldwide. It is still missing, however, an adequate standardization of methodologies, instrumentations and procedures. The instrumented areas are also employed for testing warning systems. Even though these latter have been more and more employed, a systematic experimentation of these systems has not yet been carried ... RIVERbank Surveillance bAsed on Fiber optic sEnsors
In the last decades Europe and Italy suffered many damaging floods, causing thousands of deaths, the displacement of millions of people and billions of euros in insured economic losses. Veneto Region has been also strongly stricken in 2010. The European Commission has identified the need for adaptation of risk management in several documents in order to reduce the likelihood and/or the impact of floods [1]. Starting from these remarks, the main ... FLoods and fIre Risk assessment and managEment
FLIRE is a demonstration project aiming to the development of an integrated Decision Support System (DSS) for both flash floods and forest fires risk assessment and management. The DSS tool will be designed by using state of art tools, technologies and methods and taking into account prevention, adaptation and interaction issues. The final model will be online available to key stakeholders and relevant authorities (local and national) for the ... Monitoring system for the Hahnebaum test site
A Deep-seated Gravitational Slope Deformation (DGSD) affects the south-west flank of mount Ganderberg (Moso in Passiria – BZ). The continuous displacements of the landslide induce secondary hazardous phenomena. A 800.000 m3 rock slab shows signs of incipient movement; a detachment could create a natural barrier on the river ... Real-time monitoring of the “San Lorenzo” tunnel, Passo della Morte
The entrance of the tunnel "San Lorenzo" in Forni di Sotto (UD) has built over a an active landslide body. The gravitational deformations of the slope are damaging the lining of the tunnel and creating a hazardous ... Spatially distributed modelling of landslide phenomena
The application of distributed physically based models is possible on relatively small areas, typically hundreds or few thousands of km2. Distributed modelling of slope dynamics requires many sufficiently detailed information. Knowledge of geotechnical parameters and land use, digital terrain models, medium/high resolution cartography, temporal evolution of soil moisture conditions, are ... Study and monitoring of the Rotolon landslide
At the beginning of November 2010 exceptional rainfall events stroke the Veneto Region causing the re-activation of the Rotolon landslide which is a serious threat to the town of Recoaro Terme, Vicenza, ... Rainfall, seismicity, landslides and sediment discharge in mountain belts
Taiwan, an active orogenic belt with subtropical climate is characterized by a high uplift rate and several major typhoons each year. Italy is on one of the most seismically active regions in Europe because of the thrust of African plate on Eurasian continental one. Both experience numerous landslides along with earthquakes and intense rainfalls, causing heavy damages and casualties. The purpose of this project was to share scientific knowledge ... Sinkholes in the Marina di Lesina area
Sinkholes are in Apulia among the main geohazards, and are at the origin of severe interactions with the anthropogenic environment, and heavy losses to society. Since several years the territory of Marina di Lesina is diffusely affected by development of sinkholes (that have caused an emergency state to be declared), mostly concentrated near the Acquarotta Channel, linking the Lesina Lake to the Adriatic ... Investigations of the Ianò and Maierato landslides, Calabria, southern Italy
In the winter of 2009-2010, after the previous winter 2008-2009 when widespread hydrogeological instabilities had affected the whole of Calabria, the same area was still hardly hit by numerous and heavier instability phenomena, punctual and areal. In the context outlined it was ordered by the Italian Government to draft a "Plan excerpt for urgent action" which covered, in particular, the main city of the region, Catanzaro (Ianò district), and ... Micro-seismic network at the Carrel Hut on the Matterhorn
The permafrost degradation is a probable cause of the increase of rock instabilities and rock falls observed in recent years in high mountain areas. It causes the thaw of the ice filling rock discontinuities producing water that subsequently freezes again, inducing stresses that lead to rock falls. Rock-falls are among the most hazardous instability processes in high mountain environments because of their velocity and the difficulty to ... Identification of the channel network in the Autonomous Province of Trento
The accurate representation of the channel network is fundamental in cartography. The increasing availability of high-resolution, LiDAR-derived DTMs provides an excellent topographic basis for the representation of the channel network, but requires innovative techniques for managing and processing ... GIS technologies for managing sinkhole hazard
The widespread sinkholes that involve large sectors of the Apulian territory are related to natural cavities produced by karst processes in soluble rocks, or to man-made cavities deriving from different types of human activities in different historical ages. The related hazard is extremely high, with very severe damage to built-up areas and human infrastructures, and heavy losses to the ... Innovative System for Monitoring and assessment of hIgh risk LANDslides
One of the main challenges in the field of engineering geology is the comprehension of the triggering mechanisms of landslides and the forecast of possible evolutionary scenarios in order to assess the correct mitigation measures. Landslides can be initiated by a variety of triggers: from earthquakes to meteorological events, including intense or prolonged rainfall, rapid snow melting, and variations of the surface temperature conditions. ... Landslide hazard in coastal areas: the natural laboratory of the Malta island
The research project can be included within the context of increasing hydrogeological instability also due to climate change and aims at investigating coastal instability in the island of Malta. This aspect has been until now slightly dealt with, despite significant risk issues, as evidenced from a series of accidents/damages recorded after landslide ... Landslide risk and urban planning in small settlements in Daunia
The Strategic Project PS_119 was aimed at developing a methodology for the landslide risk assessment, applicable at the regional scale and based on the most advanced knowledge in the fields of geology, geotechnics, structural engineering and urban planning. This assessment was based on a deterministic approach of the landslide processes and the risks related to them. The failure slope mechanisms, the structural damages due to landsliding and ... Monitoring of the Castellana Caves
Evolution of cave and karst system occurs also by means of successive detachments of blocks from both the vault and the walls of the underground spaces. In show caves, this poses problems for the safety of visitors, and the issue must be carefully ... Monitoring, Forecasting and Best Practices for FLOOD Mitigation & Prevention in the CADSES Region
Hydrometeorological monitoring and flood forecasting are indispensable in preventing hydraulic hazard and ensuring civil protection. Implementing a sustainable plan to combat floods requires further activities, such as best practices for agricultural, forestry and land use management in flood risk areas. Methodologies must be developped within a transnational context, transending local ... Preliminary recognition of debris-flow hazard areas in Trentino
The assessment debris-flow hazard is of utmost importance in the management of alpine catchments. The analysis of morphometric variables of drainage basins and channels can contribute to preliminary assessment of debris-flow hazard at regional ... Landslide Early Warning Integrated System
The focus on landslides results from the recognition that in many European countries slope instabilities affect urbanized areas and are a major threat to populations.
Through the integration of remotely sensed data with ground data we identify significant surface changes which are taking place on landslide susceptible slopes and this is used as input to the assessment of ...