Landslide and avalanche hazards

Hincks, T. K., Aspinall, W. P., Sparks, R. S. J., Holcombe, E. A. and Kern, M. (2013) Landslide and avalanche hazards. In, Rougier, Jonathan, Hill, Lisa J. and Sparks, Steve (eds.) Risk and Uncertainty Assessment for Natural Hazards. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, pp. 275-316. (doi:10.1017/CBO9781139047562.010).

Abstract

The incidence and impact of landslides, avalanches and associated debris flows is increasing
in many parts of the world (Aleotti and Chowdhury, 1999; Dai et al., 2002; Petley et al.,
2007; Remondo et al., 2008). The development of robust landslide risk reduction policies
and decision-making frameworks ‘relies crucially on a better understanding and on greater
sophistication, transparency and rigour in the application of science’ (Dai et al., 2002: 82).
This call has been responded to and complemented by the parallel emergence, since the
1980s, of a risk-based approach to landslides within the geoscience and engineering
communities. This chapter provides an overview of the types and causes of landslide
hazards, current advances in landslide hazard and risk assessment, with focus on issues of
uncertainty, and concludes with some related challenges and future research aims. The
chapter includes consideration of snow avalanches, which share many of the same physical
attributes in terms of triggering and emplacement dynamics.
Section 9.2 defines landslide hazard and outlines three major areas of landslide research
within the wider context of landslide risk assessment and management. Different landslide
types and processes are identified and critical aspects of research into the physical mechanisms of triggering and emplacement are described. Section 9.3 considers: the assessment of
landslide hazard using remote-sensing data and geographical information system (GIS)
software; methods for assessing landslide consequences; and issues relating to data acquisition and the handling of uncertainty. Section 9.4 describes landslide risk management,
providing examples of regional landslide risk assessment and decision-support systems, and
selected new research developments. Section 9.5 identifies current research challenges and
opportunities to advance the science.

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Contributors

Author: T. K. Hincks

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