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Relationships among remotely sensed soil moisture, precipitation and landslide events

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Abstract

Landslides are triggered by earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and heavy continuous rainfall. For most types of slope failure, soil moisture plays a critical role because increased pore water pressure reduces the soil strength and increases stress. However, in-situ soil moisture profiles are rarely measured. To establish the soil moisture and landslide relationship, a qualitative comparison among soil moisture derived from AMSR-E, precipitation from TRMM and major landslide events was conducted. This study shows that it is possible to estimate antecedent soil moisture conditions using AMSR-E and TRMM satellite data in landslide prone areas. AMSR-E data show distinct annual patterns of soil moisture that reflect observed rainfall patterns from TRMM. Results also show enhanced AMSR-E soil moisture and TRMM rainfall prior to major landslide events in landslide prone regions of California, U.S.; Leyte, Philippines; and Dhading, Nepal.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NASA Headquarters under the Earth System Science Fellowship Grant NNG05GP66H.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Hampshire, 35 Colovos Rd, Gregg Hall, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Ram L. Ray & Jennifer M. Jacobs

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  1. Ram L. Ray
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  2. Jennifer M. Jacobs
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Correspondence to Ram L. Ray.

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Ray, R.L., Jacobs, J.M. Relationships among remotely sensed soil moisture, precipitation and landslide events. Nat Hazards 43, 211–222 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-006-9095-9

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