Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Landslide Dynamics: ISDR-ICL Landslide Interactive Teaching Tools pp 607–619Cite as

TXT-tool 4.039-1.1: Definition and Use of Empirical Rainfall Thresholds for Possible Landslide Occurrence

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 1062 Accesses

Abstract

In Italy, landslides are frequent and widespread phenomena triggered chiefly by intense or prolonged rainfall. Individual rainfall events can result in single or multiple slope failures in small areas or in very large regions, causing fatalities and large economic damage. Thus, assessing the rainfall conditions responsible for landslides is important and may contribute to reducing risk. Following a review of methods for establishing the dependence of landslide occurrence on rainfall. Next, we present the statistical method used for the definition of objective cumulated event rainfall-duration (ED) thresholds, and we show regional, lithological and seasonal thresholds in central Italy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Aleotti P (2004) A warning system for rainfall-induced shallow failures. Eng Geol 73:247–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunetti MT, Peruccacci S, Rossi M, Luciani S, Valigi D, Guzzetti F (2010) Rainfall thresholds for the possible occurrence of landslides in Italy. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 10:447–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunetti MT, Peruccacci S, Antronico L, Bartolini D, Deganutti AM, Gariano SL, Iovine G, Luciani S, Luino F, Melillo M, Palladino MR, Parise M, Rossi M, Turconi L, Vennari C, Vessia G, Viero A, Guzzetti F (2015) Catalogue of rainfall events with shallow landslides and new rainfall thresholds in Italy. In: Lollino G et al (eds) Engineering geology for society and territory, vol 2: landslide processes. Springer, Berlin, pp 1575–1579

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Caine N (1980) The rainfall intensity-duration control of shallow landslides and debris flows. Geogr Ann A 62:23–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell RH (1975) Soil slips, debris flows, and rainstorms in the Santa Monica Mountains and vicinity, southern California. In: US Geological Survey Professional Paper 851. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Cancelli A, Nova R (1985) Landslides in soil debris cover triggered by rainstorms in Valtellina (central Alps—Italy). In: Proceedings of the 4th international conference and field workshop on landslides. The Japan Geological Society, Tokyo, pp 267–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang K, Chiang SH, Lei F (2007) Analysing the relationship between typhoon-triggered landslides and critical rainfall conditions. Earth Surf Process Landf 33(8):1261–1271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiang SH, Chang K (2008) Application of radar data to modelling rainfall-induced landslides. Geomorphology 103(3):299–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chleborad AF (2003) Preliminary evaluation of a precipitation threshold for anticipating the occurrence of landslides in the Seattle, Washington, Area. US Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-463

    Google Scholar 

  • Corominas J, Moya J (1999) Reconstructing recent landslide activity in relation to rainfall in the Llobregat River Basin, Eastern Pyrenees, Spain. Geomorphology 30:79–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crozier MJ (1999) Prediction of rainfall-triggered landslides: a test of the antecedent water status model. Earth Surf Proc Land 24:825–833

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crosta GB, Frattini P (2003) Distributed modelling of shallow landslides triggered by intense rainfall. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 3(1–2):81–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glade T, Crozier MJ, Smith P (2000) Applying probability determination to refine landslide-triggering rainfall thresholds using an empirical ‘‘Antecedent Daily Rainfall Model’’. Pure Appl Geophys 157(6/8):1059–1107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzzetti F, Peruccacci S, Rossi M, Stark CP (2007) Rainfall thresholds for the initiation of landslides in Central and Southern Europe. Meteorol Atmos Phys 98:239–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzzetti F, Peruccacci S, Rossi M, Stark CP (2008) The rainfall intensity-duration control of shallow landslides and debris flows: an update. Landslides 5(1):3–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Innes JL (1983) Debris flows. Prog Phys Geogr 7:469–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson RM (2000) Landslide triggering by rain infiltration. Water Resour Res 36(7):1897–1910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakob M, Weatherly H (2003) A hydroclimatic threshold for landslide initiation on the North Shore Mountains of Vancouver, British Columbia. Geomorphology 54:137–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery DR, Dietrich WE (1994) A physically based model for the topographic control of shallow landsliding. Water Resour Res 30(4):1153–1171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peruccacci S, Brunetti MT, Luciani S, Vennari C, Guzzetti F (2012) Lithological and seasonal control of rainfall thresholds for the possible initiation of landslides in central Italy. Geomorphology 139–140:79–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichenbach P, Cardinali M, De Vita P, Guzzetti F (1998) Regional hydrological thresholds for landslides and floods in the Tiber River Basin (Central Italy). Environ Geol 35(2–3):146–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terlien MTJ (1998) The determination of statistical and deterministic hydrological landslide-triggering thresholds. Environ Geol 35(2–3):124–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White ID, Mottershead DN, Harrison JJ (1996) Environmental systems, 2nd edn. Chapman & Hall, London, p 616

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wieczorek GF (1996) Landslide triggering mechanisms. In: Turner AK, Schuster RL (eds) Landslides: investigation and mitigation. Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Special Report, Washington, pp 76–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Wieczorek GF, Glade T (2005) Climatic factors influencing occurrence of debris flows. In: Jakob M, Hungr O (eds) Debris flow hazards and related phenomena. Springer, Berlin, pp 325–362

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson RC (1989) Rainstorms, pore pressures, and debris flows: a theoretical framework. In: Morton DM, Sadler PM (eds) Landslides in a semi-arid environment, vol 2. Publications of the Inland Geological Society, California, pp 101–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson RC, Wieczorek GF (1995) Rainfall thresholds for the initiation of debris flow at La Honda, California. Environ Eng Geosci 1(1):11–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu W, Sidle RC (1995) A distributed slope stability model for steep forested basins. Water Resour Res 31:2097–2110

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Ricerca per la Protezione Idrogeologica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR IRPI, Perugia, Italy

    Silvia Peruccacci & Maria Teresa Brunetti

Authors
  1. Silvia Peruccacci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Teresa Brunetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silvia Peruccacci .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Consortium on Landslides, Kyoto, Japan

    Kyoji Sassa

  2. Civil and Environmental Engineering, California State University, Fullerton, California, USA

    Binod Tiwari

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ko-Fei Liu

  4. GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

    Mauri McSaveney

  5. Geodynamics Research Center—branch of JSC “Hydroproject Institute”, Moscow, Russia

    Alexander Strom

  6. Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto, Japan

    Hendy Setiawan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Peruccacci, S., Brunetti, M.T. (2018). TXT-tool 4.039-1.1: Definition and Use of Empirical Rainfall Thresholds for Possible Landslide Occurrence. In: Sassa, K., Tiwari, B., Liu, KF., McSaveney, M., Strom, A., Setiawan, H. (eds) Landslide Dynamics: ISDR-ICL Landslide Interactive Teaching Tools . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57777-7_37

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation