Landslide hazard management - Using geotechnical monitoring, virtual process models and decision support technology

Hazard management of large slow moving landslides near critical infrastructure demands an integrated approach incorporating monitoring using a network of sensors, spatial and temporal data management, case record analysis, and four-dimensional process modelling, to understand and interpret the instrumentation results from discrete locations in space and windows in time. The influences of trigger phenomena such as pore pressure and the observable response (displacements) vary considerably; across the sliding region, with depth below surface, and in time. In order to interpret the response of the system from spatially and temporally distributed measurements, a knowledge engine forms the hub of a decision support system, linking the components already described, and providing dynamic rule sets for alert levels and ongoing recommendations.