Landslide and Debris Flow Characteristics during Extreme Rainfall in Taiwan

Authors: C. Y. Chen

Abstract:

As the global climate changes, the threat from landslides and debris flows increases. Learning how a watershed initiates landslides under abnormal rainfall conditions and predicting landslide magnitude and frequency distribution is thus important. Landslides show a power-law distribution in the frequency-area distribution. The distribution curve shows an exponent gradient 1.0 in the Sandpile model test. Will the landslide frequency-area statistics show a distribution similar to the Sandpile model under extreme rainfall conditions? The purpose of the study is to identify the extreme rainfall-induced landslide frequency-area distribution in the Laonong River Basin in southern Taiwan. Results of the analysis show that a lower gradient of landslide frequency-area distribution could be attributed to the transportation and deposition of debris flow areas that are included in the landslide area.

Keywords: Landslide, power-law distribution, GIS.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1061990

References:

[1] P. S. Chu, X. Zhao, Y. Ruan, and G. Melodie, "Extreme rainfall events in the Hawaiian Islands," Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, vol. 48, no3, pp. 502-516, 2009.
[2] R. S. Schumacher and R. H. Johnson, "Characteristics of U.S. extreme rain events during 1999-2003," Weather Forecasting, vol. no. 21, pp. 69-85, 2006.
[3] J. D. Ben Jou, Y. C. Yu, L. Feng, Y. M. Chen, C. S. Lee, and M. D. Cheng, "Synoptic environment and rainfall characteristics of Typhoon Morakot," Atmospheric Science, vol. 38, no. 1, pp.21-38, 2012. (in Chinese)
[4] CWB, Central Weather Bureau, http://www.cwb.gov.tw, 2010.
[5] C. H. Juang, "Reconnaissance of extreme natural disasters of Morakot Typhoon, Taiwan," Engineering Geology, vol. 123, pp. 1-2, 2011.
[6] C. P. Stark and N. Hovius, "The characterization of landslide size distributions," Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 28, pp. 1091-1094, 2011.
[7] F. Guzzetti, B. D. Malamud, D. L. Turcotte, and P. Reichenbach, "Power-law correlations of landslide areas in central Italy," Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 195, pp. 169-183, 2002.
[8] C. Y. Chen, F. C. Yu, S. C. Lin, and K. W. Cheung, "Discussion of landslide self-organized criticality and the initiation of debris flow," Earth Surface Processes and Landform, vol. 32, pp. 197-209, 2007.
[9] M. Van Den Eeckhaut, J. Poesena, G. Goversa, G. Verstraetena, and A. Demoulin, "Characteristics of the size distribution of recent and historical landslides in a populated hilly region," Earth Surface Processes and Landform, vol. 256, pp. 588-603, 2007.
[10] C. Y. Chen, "Sedimentary impacts from landslides in the Tachia River Basin, Taiwan," Geomorphology, vol. 105, pp. 355-365, 2009.
[11] C. Y. Chen, "Landslide and self-organized criticality in the Lushan hot spring area," Journal of Mountain Science, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 463-471, 2012.
[12] G. B. Crosta, P. D. Negro, and P. Frattini, "Soil slips and debris flows on terraced slopes," Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, vol. 3, pp. 31-42, 2003. 0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 Landslide area, A (km2) 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000 100000000 1000000000 10000000000 noncumulative frequency (-dNc/dA) Chi-Chi EQ induced landslide lnY=-2.06lnX+5.79 (r2=0.93) Debris flow Morakot landslide in Lawnon lnY=-1.53lnX+4.42 (r2=0.94)
[13] B. D. Malamud, D. L. Turcotte, F. Guzzetti, and P. Reichenbach, "Landslide inventories and their statistical properties," Earth Surface Process & Landform, vol. 29, pp. 687-711, 2004.
[14] M. C. Weng, M. H. Wu, S. K. Ning, and Y. W. Jou, "Evaluating triggering and causative factors of landslides in Lawnon River Basin, Taiwan," Engineering Geology, vol. 123, Iss. 1-2, pp. 72-82, 2011.
[15] C. H. Wu, S. C. Chen, and H. T. Chou, "Geomorphologic characteristics of catastrophic landslides during typhoon Morakot in the Kaoping Watershed, Taiwan," Engineering Geology, vol. 123, Iss. 1-2, pp. 13-21, 2011.
[16] NFA, National Fire Agency, Ministry of the Interior, Typhoon Kalmegi emergency response report, http://www.nfa.gov.tw/, 2008.
[17] WRA, 2010. Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Hydrological Year Book of Taiwan Republic of China 2010, http://gweb.wra.gov.tw/wrhygis/, 2010.
[18] P. Bak, C. Tang, and K. Wiesenfeld, "Self-organized criticality: an explanation of 1/f noise," Physical Review Letters, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 381-384, 1987.
[19] P. Bak, C. Tang, and K. Wiesenfeld, "Self organized criticality," Physical Review A, vol. 38, pp. 364-374, 1988.