IRES: US-China Collaboration on Landslide Research and Student Training

美国和中国都因山体滑坡灾害遭受了巨大的生命财产损失。拟议的国际学生研究经验（IRES）项目将支持18名美国学生（每年2名研究生和4名本科生）在2016年、2017年和2018年夏季在中国三峡地区进行高级滑坡研究。IRES的学生将在中国地质大学主校区参加为期两周的中国语言和文化强化课程，然后在三峡库区进行为期五周的实地调查。实地调查将由项目负责人和中国地质大学的三位教授。来自中国地质大学（武汉）的唐慧明、周汉文、马长谦。这个为期八周的合作项目旨在让美国学生在其职业生涯的早期阶段接触到国际滑坡研究团体。IRES项目将通过在中国地质大学校园和三峡库区的活动，提高美国学生在中国的知名度。IRES项目将为美国学生提供在滑坡测量、制图、监测和预警方面的实地研究经验。主要研究目标是：(1)建立基于GPS的黄土坡滑坡现场实时监测预警系统；(2)利用高精度GPS和LiDAR集成技术开发滑坡快速成图方法；(3)研究三峡库区滑坡运动与水位波动的相关性。通过该项目开发的方法可以进行修改，以服务于其他容易发生滑坡的地区。学生从这个项目中学到的知识和技能将为他们的职业生涯做更好的准备。

The U.S. and China both suffer great life and property losses due to landslide hazards. The proposed International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program will support 18 U.S. students (two graduates and four undergraduates per year) to conduct advanced landslide research in the Three Gorges area in China during the summer of 2016, 2017, and 2018. The IRES students will attend a two-week intensive Chinese language and cultural course at the main campus of CUG and then conduct a five-week field investigation in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. The field investigations will be supervised by the PI and three professors at CUG, Drs. Huiming Tang, Hanwen Zhou, and Changqian Ma from the China University of Geosciences (CUG) in Wuhan. The eight-week-long collaborative project is designed to expose U.S. students to the international landslide research community at an early stage of their careers. The IRES project will increase the visibility of U.S. students in China through their activities in the CUG campus and in the Three Gorges Reservoir area.The IRES project will provide U.S. students with hands-on field research experience in landslide surveying, mapping, monitoring, and early-warning. The main research objectives are to (1) develop a GPS based real-time landslide monitoring and early-warning system at the Huangtupo landslide site, (2) develop a rapid landslide mapping method using high-accuracy GPS and LiDAR integrated technologies, and (3) study the correlation of landslide movements with fluctuation of the water level within the Three Gorges Reservoir. The methods developed through this project can be modified to serve other regions prone to landslides. The knowledge and skills that students learn from this project will better prepare them for their professional careers.