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The red regions represent landslide events delineated through SLIP. Image Credit: Himalaya Disasters Team
Category: Assessing Human Risk
Project Team: Himalaya Disasters III
Team Location: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center ÛÒ Greenbelt, Maryland
Authors:
Amanda Rumsey
Jordan Scheffler
Jessica Fayne
Mentors/Advisors:
Dr. Dalia B. Kirschbaum (NASA GSFC)
Dr. John D. Bolten (NASA GSFC)
Thomas A. Stanley (NASA GSFC)
Sebastian Wesselman (ICIMOD)
Abstract:
Nepal is a hotspot for landslide activity due to its mountainous topography, complex terrain, and monsoon rains. Previous related studies combined NASA Earth observation data from Landsat 8, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) with various ancillary datasets to create two products for use in the region: the Sudden Landslide Identification Product (SLIP) and Detecting Real-time Increased Precipitation (DRIP). SLIP will help identify landslides in near real-time using Landsat 8 and elevation products, as well as provide damage assessments by mapping landslides automatically after a disaster such as the Gorkha earthquake in May 2015. DRIP will monitor precipitation levels extracted from the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) 30-minute product to create alerts when current rainfall levels exceed calculated threshold values. SLIP and DRIP also were integrated to provide a more comprehensive landslide notification system for the region. The objectives of this study were to support the results of SLIP and DRIP, to assess their global prediction capabilities, and to develop a Web-based data portal that can host SLIP and DRIP and will allow end-users to collect and download landslide event and rainfall event information. The DRIP-SLIP model combination will be used by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) to (a) protect and manage ecosystems and villages in Nepal, (b) prevent future loss of life and infrastructure due to landslides, and (c) reduce poverty through integrated natural resource management and regional cooperation.