Advances in Debris Flow Modeling Aimed at Hazard Assessment: Theory, Practice, and Case Studies

Dear Colleagues,

Debris flows are one of the most hazardous and damaging phenomena that may occur in mountain regions. Climate change has increased the frequency and magnitude of these extreme events and raised the importance of other related phenomena, such as the so-called rock–ice avalanches, which are able to reach inhabited areas today. Consequently, the demand for numerical models with reliable forecasting capabilities is becoming more and more pressing in contexts of hazard and risk assessment.

Although debris flow dynamics have been studied for several decades, mathematical and numerical modeling is still far from a comprehensive, satisfactory description of these flows, and a variety of different approaches are present in the literature: monophase vs. multiphase, fixed bed vs. mobile bed, entrainment vs. immediate adaptation, just to name a few, not to mention the rheological relations (e.g., viscous, Bingham, collisional, kinetic) or the numerical strategies employed. Many aspects are still open questions, and several different assumptions lead to models that can be applied only in specific situations. Moreover, the lack of an adequate number of accurate surveys of debris flows dynamics in the field (and in the laboratory as well) makes the evaluation of the capabilities of the models somewhat problematic.

The goal of this Special Issue is twofold:

1. to present recent advances, open questions, difficulties, and applications of debris flow numerical modeling aimed at hazard assessment;
2. to provide a collection of well-documented debris-flow events, laboratory and case studies, to be used in assessing models’ forecasting capabilities.

Original contributions that can help, in a broad sense, to reach the goal of the Issue will be considered for publication.

Prof. Dr. Giorgio Rosatti
Guest Editor

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• Debris flows
• Mathematical modeling
• Numerical modeling
• Laboratory experiments
• Survey and monitoring
• Simulations and case studies
• Forecast capabilities
• Hazard assessment