Identifying geohazards in glaciated valleys and building rural community resilience via bare-earth point cloud analysis and eco-sensitive mitigation

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World wide there have been thousands of fatalities caused by landslides and debris flows in previously glaciated valleys. Climate change, wildfires, and land disturbances (e.g., road construction) increase the occurrence of geohazards and their impacts. Rural communities, First Nations communities, and individuals exposed to the geohazards are often ill-equipped to respond to the geohazards, yet there are opportunities to enhance resiliency via appropriately designed and implemented eco-sensitive mitigation techniques. My long term research goal is to continue my past activities to reduce harm from geohazards. For the next five years, the research effort will concentrate on 1) improving our ability to identify potential debris flow or landslide locations and 2) developing new eco-sensitive geohazard mitigation solutions for rural communities with limited resources. The proposed research builds upon my extensive experience with rock slope geohazard assessments and mitigation. It also leverages skills developed with remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) for data collection in the field, and geospatial analysis of bare-earth point cloud data. Knowhow developed with machine learning tools applied to stability analyses for mines and rock slopes can be applied to geohazards in glaciated valleys. The short term objectives of the proposed research are to 1)Explore the interactions between human and climate change disturbances on the landscape (e.g., road construction or forest fires) and the triggering of landslides and debris flows with a focus on the particular geological and groundwater conditions that occur in glacial terrace deposits. 2)Assess the impact of previously ignored and seemingly insignificant disturbances to surface and subsurface flow from human activities or natural causes that subsequently trigger landslides or debris flows. 3)Exploit unprecedented levels of detail in bare-earth point cloud data to identify previously unrecognized geohazard locations along valleys using a multi-factor approach that relies on machine learning, algorithm training, and field verification. 4)Develop cost-effective and environmentally sustainable mitigation methods for these geohazards. The mitigation efforts will be focused on better water drainage plus the eco-sensitive design of debris flow deflection berms to protect individuals and rural communities exposed to the geohazards.