Rain-fall-induced landslides are one of the most common types of natural hazards worldwide, and were responsible for around 26,000 deaths between 2000 and 2014 (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) and billions of dollars in damages. But what exactly are they, and why do they matter for infrastructure managers?
When rain falls onto slopes, water doesn't simply vanish - it seeps into the ground, saturating the soil. As the soil becomes waterlogged, its weight increases, and its ability to stay stable decreases. When the tipping point is reached, gravity takes over, and the ground moves downhill. This process can happen slowly, over weeks, or suddenly as a catastrophic landslide.
A Few Facts
In 2020, over 23% of reported landslides worldwide were triggered by heavy rainfall (NASA).
Rainfall-induced landslides are especially common in areas with steep terrain, poor vegetation cover, or loose soil, such as the Himalayas, the Andes, and even urbanised hillsides.
The 2017 rainfall-triggered landslides in Sierra Lone devastated Freetown, killing more than 1,000 people and destroying homes and roads (International Federation of Red Cross Societies).
Why Does This Matter for Infrastructure?
For infrastructure managers, landslides are not hypothetical risks - they're a reality. These events can:
Block transportation routes: Landslides in Italy's Liguria region in 2019 disrupted railways, delaying thousands over commuters.
Damage critical assets: In 2021, a landslide in British Colombia caused millions of dollars in pipeline damage.
Lead to costly service interruptions: Landslides in Japan triggered power outages and road closures, affecting over 2 million people during the rainy season (Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention).
How Can Technology Help Rainfall-Induced Landslides?
At Geofem, we leverage satellite remote sensing techniques - like InSAR - to monitor and predict landslide-prone areas with precision. By combining data from radar satellites with rainfall patterns, soil moisture readings, and topography, we create geohazard susceptibility maps to identify areas at the most risk.
These tools allows infrastructure managers to:
Prioritise maintenance for high-risk zones, reducing downtime.
Plan proactive measures, like drainage or slope stabilisation.
Protect assets and communities, savings costs and lives.
Rainfall-induced landslides are unavoidable, but their impacts don't have to be devastating. By integrating satellite data into planning and monitoring, we can stay one step ahead of these hazards.
Want to learn more about how satellite remote sensing data can help build landslide susceptibility maps? Contact our expert team today.
Comments