Atmospheric and geophysical monitoring approach for hydrogeological risk: A first application on site

Abstract

Climate change in our latitudes increasingly involves the alternation of periods of great drought and extremely localized and intense rainfall events, or the so-called Mediterranean cyclones, which in recent years caused enormous damages and losses both in economic terms and unfortunately in human lives. In order to mitigate these damages and reduce the risks, it is necessary to address the problem in a wide-ranging way. In addition, soil changes resulting from long periods of drought and fires cause a depletion of the soil surface layers which can give rise to the instability phenomena, with heavy rainfalls. A new interdisciplinary methodological approach is presented that can be used on slopes falling in areas of high hydrogeological hazard for the activation of the early warning. The level of susceptibility to instability is determined by evaluating the temporal evolution of the vulnerability of the same slopes due to extreme rainfall events, based on the acquired multiparametric data. The first results of the application of the geoelectrical monitoring at site susceptible to landslides are presented. The geodatabase of the Dipartimento Regionale di Protezione Civile (DRPC) identified 26 sites characterized by high hydrogeological risk in the Messina Province (Italy). Among these, the same area where a dramatic event occurred in autumn 2009 was chosen as a case study.