A clear and present danger: Ladakh's increasing vulnerability to flash floods and debris flows

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (22) ◽  
pp. 4214-4223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan D. Ziegler ◽  
Sebastian I. Cantarero ◽  
Robert J. Wasson ◽  
Pradeep Srivastava ◽  
Sonam Spalzin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Clear And Present Danger

Choose you own scientific experiment: Triggering debris flows and flash floods

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thea Turkington
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
The Other ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Scientific Experiment

Landslides and flash floods result in many fatalities around the globe. Understanding what triggers these events is therefore vital, although how to approach this problem is not straight forward. After background information for the experiment and some guidelines, two options are presented to learn more about the triggers of debris flows: (A) using rainfall or (B) the atmospheric conditions. You can then choose the option that appears more useful and interesting to you (you can always go back and read the other experiment afterwards). The article then ends with a reflection on the results.

scholarly journals Empirical atmospheric thresholds for debris flows and flash floods in the southern French Alps

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1517-1530 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Turkington ◽  
J. Ettema ◽  
C. J. van Westen ◽  
K. Breinl
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Convective Rainfall ◽  
French Alps ◽  
Mountainous Regions

Abstract. Debris flows and flash floods are often preceded by intense, convective rainfall. The establishment of reliable rainfall thresholds is an important component for quantitative hazard and risk assessment, and for the development of an early warning system. Traditional empirical thresholds based on peak intensity, duration and antecedent rainfall can be difficult to verify due to the localized character of the rainfall and the absence of weather radar or sufficiently dense rain gauge networks in mountainous regions. However, convective rainfall can be strongly linked to regional atmospheric patterns and profiles. There is potential to employ this in empirical threshold analysis. This work develops a methodology to determine robust thresholds for flash floods and debris flows utilizing regional atmospheric conditions derived from ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis data, comparing the results with rain-gauge-derived thresholds. The method includes selecting the appropriate atmospheric indicators, categorizing the potential thresholds, determining and testing the thresholds. The method is tested in the Ubaye Valley in the southern French Alps (548 km2), which is known to have localized convection triggered debris flows and flash floods. This paper shows that instability of the atmosphere and specific humidity at 700 hPa are the most important atmospheric indicators for debris flows and flash floods in the study area. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates that atmospheric reanalysis data are an important asset, and could replace rainfall measurements in empirical exceedance thresholds for debris flows and flash floods.

Assessing physical vulnerability in large cities exposed to flash floods and debris flows: the case of Arequipa (Peru)

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 1771-1815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Claude Thouret ◽  
Susanne Ettinger ◽  
Mathieu Guitton ◽  
Olivier Santoni ◽  
Christina Magill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Physical Vulnerability ◽  
Large Cities

A low-cost method to measure the timing of postfire flash floods and debris flows relative to rainfall

2012 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason W. Kean ◽  
Dennis M. Staley ◽  
Robert J. Leeper ◽  
Kevin M. Schmidt ◽  
Joseph E. Gartner
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Flash Floods

scholarly journals Environmental and Economic Impact of Cloudburst Triggered Debris Flows and Flash Floods in the Himalaya: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishwambhar Prasad Sati ◽  
Saurabh Kumar Dubey
Keyword(s):  
Economic Impact ◽  
Debris Flows ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Household Level ◽  
The Himalaya

Abstract This paper examines the environmental and economic impact of cloudburst triggered debris flows and flash floods in the Himalaya. A case study of four villages affected by cloudburst calamity was conducted. Data were gathered by a household-level survey of affected villages and households. The authors visited the affected villages immediately after the cloudburst calamity and interviewed the head of all affected households. A total of 143 households were surveyed. First, the damage of houses, cowsheds, bridges, trees (forests and fruits) dislocation, degradation of total land along the streams and arable land in and around the villages were measured with the help of the head of households (environmental impact). The volume of debris, boulders, pebbles, gravels and mud was measured. Economic valuation of all losses was noted (economic impact). This study finds out that a large area of all villages was severely affected by cloudburst triggered debris flow and flash flood, because, they are located in a severely vulnerable landscape. This study reveals that Nirakot village needs to be rehabilitated entirely and in other villages all households, which are severely affected need to be rehabilitated as soon as possible to escape from the future cloudburst catastrophe.

scholarly journals Empirical atmospheric thresholds for debris flows and flash floods in the Southern French Alps

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 757-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Turkington ◽  
J. Ettema ◽  
C. J. van Westen ◽  
K. Breinl
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Convective Rainfall ◽  
French Alps ◽  
Mountainous Regions

Abstract. Debris flows and flash floods are often preceded by intense, convective rainfall. The establishment of reliable rainfall thresholds is an important component for quantitative hazard and risk assessment, and for the development of an early warning system. Traditional empirical thresholds based on peak intensity, duration and antecedent rainfall can be difficult to verify due to the localized character of the rainfall and the absence of weather radar or sufficiently dense rain gauge networks in mountainous regions. However, convective rainfall can be strongly linked to regional atmospheric patterns and profiles. There is potential to employ this in empirical threshold analysis. This work develops a methodology to determine robust thresholds for flash floods and debris flows utilizing regional atmospheric conditions derived from ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis data, comparing the results with rain gauge derived thresholds. The method includes selecting the appropriate atmospheric indicators, categorizing the potential thresholds, determining and testing the thresholds. The method is tested in the Ubaye Valley in the southern French Alps, which is known to have localized convection triggered debris flows and flash floods. This paper shows that instability of the atmosphere and specific humidity at 850 hPa are the most important atmospheric indicators for debris flows and flash floods in the study area. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates that atmospheric reanalysis data is an important asset, and could replace rainfall measurements in empirical exceedence thresholds for debris flows and flash floods.

scholarly journals Flash Flood Susceptibility Evaluation in Human-Affected Areas Using Geomorphological Methods—The Case of 9 August 2020, Euboea, Greece. A GIS-Based Approach

GeoHazards ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-382
Author(s):  
Anna Karkani ◽  
Niki Evelpidou ◽  
Maria Tzouxanioti ◽  
Alexandros Petropoulos ◽  
Nicoletta Santangelo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Alluvial Fans ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
The Road ◽  
Flood Susceptibility ◽  
High Hazard ◽  
Flooding Events ◽  
Very High

Flash floods occur almost exclusively in small basins, and they are common in small Mediterranean catchments. They pose one of the most common natural disasters, as well as one of the most devastating. Such was the case of the recent flood in Euboea island, in Greece, in August 2020. A field survey was accomplished after the 2020 flash floods in order to record the main impacts of the event and identify the geomorphological and man-made causes. The flash flood susceptibility in the urbanized alluvial fans was further assessed using a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based approach. Our findings suggest that a large portion of the alluvial fans of Politika, Poros and Mantania streams are mainly characterized by high and very high hazard. In fact, ~27% of the alluvial fans of Politika and Poros streams are characterized with very high susceptibility, and ~54% of Psachna area. GIS results have been confirmed by field observations after the 2020 flash flood, with significant damages noted, such as debris flows and infrastructure damages, in buildings, bridges and the road networks. In addition, even though the adopted approach may be more time-consuming in comparison to purely computational methods, it has the potential of being more accurate as it combines field observations and the effect of past flooding events.

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