Landslide dynamics from seismic wave inversion, satellite remote sensing, and numerical modeling

该项目致力于开发和应用新的方法来研究灾难性滑坡的动力学。人们对大型快速滑坡的动态运动知之甚少，主要原因有两个：(1)岩石作为颗粒体滑动、破碎和流动的物理过程非常复杂；(2)对大型滑坡的速度和演化几乎完全缺乏直接的观测和测量。该项目将使用一种新方法，通过解释岩石沿滑动路径加速和减速时产生的地震波来确定山体滑坡的移动。由于大型滑坡的结果，这种波通常被记录在全球和区域地震台网上，现在可以使用与研究大地震的方法相改进的方法来解释这些信号。地震分析将与对提供滑坡运动补充信息的前后卫星图像的解释和分析相结合，以及对真实地形上的滑坡运动进行数值模拟。综合分析将导致对最近许多灾难性山体滑坡的详细描述，以及对所涉及的力量和过程的新见解。该项目的一个成果是远程和近实时地检测和量化灾难性山体滑坡。从事自然灾害减轻和灾害管理的社区将发现这种工具很有价值，特别是在偏远地区发生大规模斜坡坍塌或通信严重受损的情况下。该项目将产生的历史滑坡的详细描述的收集将引起关注斜坡不稳定的广泛的科学和工程界的兴趣。

This project is focused on developing and applying new methods to investigate the dynamics of catastrophic landslides. The dynamic motion of large and fast landslides is poorly understood for two main reasons: (1) the physics of rock sliding, breaking, and flowing as a granular mass is very complex, and (2) there is a nearly complete lack of direct observations and measurements of the speed and evolution of large landslides. The project will use a new method to determine the movement of landslides through interpretation of the seismic waves that are generated as the rock accelerates and slows down along its paths of sliding. Such waves are routinely recorded on global and regional seismographic networks as a consequence of large landslides and the signals can now be interpreted using methods modified from those used to study large earthquakes.The seismic analysis will be combined with interpretation and analysis of before-and-after satellite imagery that provides complementary information on the motion of the landslide, and numerical modeling of landslide motion over realistic topography. The combined analysis will lead to detailed descriptions of many recent catastrophic landslides, and new insights into the forces and processes involved.An outcome of the project is a tool to detect and quantify catastrophic landslides remotely and in near-real time. Communities engaged in natural-hazards mitigation and disaster management will find such a tool valuable, notably in cases where massive slope failures strike in remote areas or under conditions where communications are severely compromised. The collection of detailed descriptions of historical landslides that will result from the project will be of interest to a wide range of science and engineering communities concerned with slope instability.