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Meteo-climatic parameters and ground surface deformation

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. The problem is particularly severe in mountain areas, 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 on the landscapes and the environment. HAMMER project intends to cope with this topic by collecting accurate and long term time series of ground surface and sub-surface deformation, and analysing eventual changes of the deformation trend associated with meteorological and climatic variables over time. The project HAMMER will focus mainly on the following study areas: (i) Italian Western Alps, (ii) Apennines, (iii) Pyrenees, and (iv) Atacama desert, Andes. (Figure 1). 
The main goals of the project are:
Collect time series of surface and sub-surface ground deformations in landslide areas in the Alps, the Apennines, the Pyrenees and the Andes. 
Collect time series of meteorological parameters for the same areas for which the ground deformations data will be collected.
Demonstrate the capability of DInSAR techniques to provide multi-decadal time series of ground deformations in different physiographical and climatic environments.
Attempt statistical correlations between time series of meteorological parameters and time series of the ground deformations, for selected test sites.
 

Figure 1. HAMMER study areas

The first period of work the project has been focused mainly on different activity: i) collecting the ground deformation time series provided by in-situ measurements and meteorological data for four test sites located in the Alps and Apennines territory (Table 1 and Figure 2), ii) organization of a FTP site to store and share data and metadata, iii) analysis of the scientific and technical literature.

Table 1. HAMMER test sites distributed in the Alps and Apennines territory, associated to their geographic coordinates.

Figure 2. Geographical distribution of the test sites located in the Alps and Apennines territory for which the ground deformation data were found.

The ground deformation data provided by in-situ measurements has been obtained from previous internal studies of CNR-IRPI Torino, in particular of GMG group (http://gmg.irpi.cnr.it) and of CNR-IRPI Perugia (http://geomorphology.irpi.cnr.it/) and also from their several publications (Calò et al., 2014; Lollino et al., 2006). The meteorological information were available on the web pages of the regional government.
For Gardiola landslide are available time series providing x, y, z local coordinates, and Δx, Δy, Δz, and total displacement Δtot data of 19 prisms target in the period 2004-2009. The rainfall data are related at on station and were gathered for the period 1993-2013. The information was provided by the web page http://www.regione.piemonte.it/ambiente/aria/rilev/ariaday/annali/meteor....
For Grande Orgiera landslide are available time series providing x, y, z local coordinates, and Δx, Δy, Δz, and total displacement Δtot data of 13 prisms target in the period 2009-2010. The rainfall data are related at two stations and were gathered for the period 1988-2013 and 1990 – 2013. The information was provided by the web page http://www.regione.piemonte.it/ambiente/aria/rilev/ariaday/annali/meteor....
For Montalto di Cosola landslide are available time series of the inclinometers data in the period 2000-2004. The rainfall data are related at one station and were gathered for the period 2006-2013. The information was provided by the web page http://www.regione.piemonte.it/ambiente/aria/rilev/ariaday/annali/meteor...
For Ivancich landlslide are available ground deformation time series of four inclinometers in the period 1999-2006. The rainfall data are related at three stations and were gathered for the period 1988-2010. The information was provided by the web page http://www.idrografico.regione.umbria.it/annali/default.aspx.
 
We consider that because of the lack and dispersion of the information regarding the main topic of HAMMER, a review of the scientific and technical literature was necessary. Time was spent on the analysis of the scientific and technical literature to determine where quantitative surface and sub-surface information on ground deformations in landslide areas is available, and for which periods. For the purpose we compiled a database of scientific and technical papers. This activity allowed us to produce a database of 100 records where reviewed papers have been classified according to the main topic of HAMMER project: in situ ground deformation measurements, space-borne DInSAR ground deformation measurements, and meteorological parameters. Particular attention was paid to characterize the “Physiographic environment” and the “Climatic zone”. To characterize the “Physiographic environment” we used the classification proposed in Mücher et al. (2009) for European sites, and the ISPRA AMBIENTE classification for the Italian test cases (http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/servizi-per-lambiente/sistema-carta-de...). To characterize the “Climatic zone” we used the Köppen-Geiger climate classification proposed in Kottek et al. (2006). The presence or absence of relationship between time series data of ground deformation, in situ and/or satellite, and meteorological-climatic time series were also investigated.
 
- Calò F., Ardizzone F., Castaldo R., Lollino P., Guzetti F., Lanari R., Angeli M-G., Pontoni F., Manunta M., 2014 – Enhanced landslide investigations through advanced DInSAR techniques: the Ivancich case stuty, Assisi, Itlay. Remote Sensing of Environment, 142, 69-82.
Lollino G., Arattano M., Allasia P and Giordan D. (2006) – Time response of a landslide to meteorological events. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 6, 179-184.
Kottek M., Grieser J., Beck C., Rudolf B. and Rubel F. (2006) – World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorologische Zeitshrift, Vol 15, No. 3, 259-261
Mücher C.A., Klijn J.A., Wascher D.M. and Schaminée J.H.J. (2009) – A new European Landscaper Classification (LANMAP): A transparent, flexible and user-oriented methodology to distinguish landscapes. Ecological Indicators, 10, 87-103