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Water
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Rainfall Infiltration Processes and Their Effects on Landslide Hazard
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Rainfall Infiltration Processes and Their Effects on Landslide Hazard

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2020) | Viewed by 10846

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Roberto Greco

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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, via Roma 9, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy
Interests: hillslope hydrology; vadose zone hydrology; landslide hydrology; infiltration; unsaturated soil mechanics; landslide early warning; soil–plant–atmosphere interaction; soil physics; water distribution systems; hydroinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Emilia Damiano

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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Aversa, Italy
Interests: landslides; physical modeling; liquefaction; monitoring and early warning systems
Dr. Giovanna Capparelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Informatica, Modellistica, Elettronica e Sistemistica–DIMES, Università della Calabria, 87036 Cosenza, Italy
Interests: mathematical models; landslides triggered by rainfall; physical modeling; infiltration processes; risk scenarios; early warning systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rainfall-induced landslides are among the most diffuse geohazards all over the world, causing heavy damages and fatalities every year. However, the triggering of landslides is only indirectly linked to rainfall, as slope failure is determined by the increase of water pressure in the soil, which requires rainwater to penetrate and remain stored within the soil. Hence, whereas infiltration is not balanced by the various kinds of drainage processes occurring in the slope (e.g., deep leakage, overland and subsurface runoff, evapotranspiration), failure conditions may be attained. The water balance of the slope is controlled not only by the hydraulic properties of the potentially unstable soil mass, but also by the hydraulic conditions at its boundaries. Often, hydrological processes, developing in spatial domains larger than the landslide, have to be considered to assess the failure conditions.

This Special Issue aims at collecting and presenting innovative research about rainfall-induced landslides, showing the importance of infiltration and drainage processes to correctly predict landslide hazard in various geomorphological contexts. Studies dealing with the effects of heterogeneity of soil properties, the role of vegetation, of superficial and buried topography, the assessment of initial conditions predisposing to slope failure, the influence of the presence of cracks and other macropores on rainwater infiltration, and the nonlinearity of infiltration and drainage processes would be very appreciated. Both experimental and modeling studies are welcome.

Dr. Roberto Greco
Dr. Emilia Damiano
Dr. Giovanna Capparelli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • rainfall-induced landslides
  • shallow landslides
  • deep-seated landslides
  • debris flows
  • causes and triggers of landslides
  • vadose zone hydrology
  • hillslope hydrology
  • causes and triggers of landslides
  • heterogeneities, layering, preferential flows, and macropores
  • soil–plant–atmosphere interaction
  • interflow and subsurface runoff
  • mathematical modeling
  • physical modeling
  • field monitoring
  • hazard and risk assessment
  • early warning systems

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 34345 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Weakening Law and Stability of Sliding Zone Soil in Thrust-Load-Induced Accumulation Landslides Triggered by Rainfall Infiltration
by Zhou Zhou, Junhui Shen, Song Tang, Weifeng Duan, Jingyong Wang, Richang Yang, Shengzhe Zheng and Fulin Guo
Water 2021, 13(4), 466; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040466 - 11 Feb 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2456
Abstract
This study investigated the weakening model, law of mechanics parameters, and stability of the sliding zone soil associated with thrust-load-induced accumulation landslides triggered by rainfall infiltration. The spatial and morphological characteristics and rule of the sapping process were analyzed, considering the constitutive equation [...] Read more.
This study investigated the weakening model, law of mechanics parameters, and stability of the sliding zone soil associated with thrust-load-induced accumulation landslides triggered by rainfall infiltration. The spatial and morphological characteristics and rule of the sapping process were analyzed, considering the constitutive equation of the sliding zone soil, in order to establish a state curve equation for the weakening coefficient of sliding zone soil based on the “S”-shaped curve. Moreover, a formula for calculating slope stability with this failure mode was derived and applied to calculate the stability of a deformation body in Danbo reservoir, China. The results show that the sliding zone in this type of landslide exhibits steep upward and slow downward trends, and affected by rainfall infiltration, its failure develops gradually from the trailing edge to the front edge. In the constitutive equation, the weakening of soil mechanical parameters is manifested as the weakening of shear stiffness, while the “S”-shaped curve of the weakening coefficient reflects the spatial characteristics of the weakening process. The main factors affecting the accuracy of the slope stability calculation are the values of model parameters and assessment of the development characteristics and weakening stage of the sliding zone. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall Infiltration Processes and Their Effects on Landslide Hazard)
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23 pages, 8535 KiB  
Article
Monitoring the Hydrological Balance of a Landslide-Prone Slope Covered by Pyroclastic Deposits over Limestone Fractured Bedrock
by Pasquale Marino, Luca Comegna, Emilia Damiano, Lucio Olivares and Roberto Greco
Water 2020, 12(12), 3309; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12123309 - 25 Nov 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2558
Abstract
Many mountainous areas in Campania, Southern Italy, are characterized by steep slopes covered by loose unsaturated pyroclastic deposits laying upon fractured limestone bedrock. The soil covers are mainly constituted by layers of ashes and pumices. Large and intense rainfall events trigger shallow landslides, [...] Read more.
Many mountainous areas in Campania, Southern Italy, are characterized by steep slopes covered by loose unsaturated pyroclastic deposits laying upon fractured limestone bedrock. The soil covers are mainly constituted by layers of ashes and pumices. Large and intense rainfall events trigger shallow landslides, often turning into debris flows that cause huge damage and casualties. The slope of Cervinara, around 40 km Northeast of Naples, was involved in a catastrophic flowslide on 16 December 1999, triggered by a rainstorm of 325 mm in 48 h. To capture the main effects of precipitation on the slope stability, hydro-meteorological monitoring activities have been carried out at the slope to assess the water balance for three years (2017–2020). The field monitoring data allowed the identification of the complex hydrological processes involving the unsaturated pyroclastic soil and the shallow groundwater system developing in the limestone bedrock, which control the conditions that potentially predispose the slope to landslide triggering. Specifically, late autumn has been identified as the potentially most critical period, when slope drainage processes are not yet effective, and soil covers already receive large amounts of precipitation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall Infiltration Processes and Their Effects on Landslide Hazard)
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23 pages, 5915 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Horizontal Variability of Hydraulic Conductivity on Slope Stability under Heavy Rainfall
by Tongchun Han, Liqiao Liu and Gen Li
Water 2020, 12(9), 2567; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092567 - 15 Sep 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2230
Abstract
Due to the natural variability of the soil, hydraulic conductivity has significant spatial variability. In the paper, the variability of the hydraulic conductivity is described by assuming that it follows a lognormal distribution. Based on the improved Green–Ampt (GA) model of rainwater infiltration, [...] Read more.
Due to the natural variability of the soil, hydraulic conductivity has significant spatial variability. In the paper, the variability of the hydraulic conductivity is described by assuming that it follows a lognormal distribution. Based on the improved Green–Ampt (GA) model of rainwater infiltration, the analytical expressions of rainwater infiltration into soil with depth and time under heavy rainfall conditions is obtained. The theoretical derivation of rainfall infiltration is verified by numerical simulation, and is used to quantitatively analyze the effect of horizontal variability of the hydraulic conductivity on slope stability. The results show that the variability of the hydraulic conductivity has a significant impact on rainwater infiltration and slope stability. The smaller the coefficient of variation, the more concentrated is the rainwater infiltration at the beginning of rainfall. Accordingly, the wetting front is more obvious, and the safety factor is smaller. At the same time, the higher coefficient of variation has a negative impact on the cumulative infiltration of rainwater. The larger the coefficient of variation, the lower the cumulative rainwater infiltration. The conclusions reveal the influence of the horizontal variation of hydraulic conductivity on rainwater infiltration, and then the influence on slope stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall Infiltration Processes and Their Effects on Landslide Hazard)
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Other

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23 pages, 22517 KiB  
Case Report
Reactivation of a Huge, Deep-Seated, Ancient Landslide: Formation Mechanism, Deformation Characteristics, and Stability
by Shilin Luo, Xiaoguang Jin, Da Huang, Xibin Kuang, Yixiang Song and Dongming Gu
Water 2020, 12(7), 1960; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12071960 - 10 Jul 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2729
Abstract
In this study, an investigation on the formation mechanisms, deformation characteristics, and stability of the Outang landslide, composed by three independent blocks (O1, O2, and O3), is performed by integrating site surveys, multi-technique monitoring data, and numerical simulation. The results show that the [...] Read more.
In this study, an investigation on the formation mechanisms, deformation characteristics, and stability of the Outang landslide, composed by three independent blocks (O1, O2, and O3), is performed by integrating site surveys, multi-technique monitoring data, and numerical simulation. The results show that the formation mechanism for blocks O1 and O3 is slide-bulking, and is planar slide for block O2. These three blocks slide along the incompetent layers (ILs): IL1 is the slip surface of block O1 and O2, and IL3 is the slip surface of block O3. Furthermore, the west local fast movement zone might evolve into deep failure. The slope surface movement is step-like, characterized by the alternation of rapid displacement followed by imperceptible displacement over each hydrological year. The surface displacement velocities increased upslope. Based on the numerical simulation, both precipitation and reservoir water are believed as the major factors driving the slope behaviors, and the slope stability would be decreased gradually under the effect of the periodic variation of water level and seasonal precipitation infiltration. As a result of this study, some countermeasures of landslide and long-term monitoring are recommended. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall Infiltration Processes and Their Effects on Landslide Hazard)
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