161 Dynamics of Natural and Built Environments

Our communities, economies and infrastructure depend on interactions between the natural and built environments. Engineered systems (e.g. earthworks, structures, utilities) must be resilient to evolving natural forcings, and similarly engineered systems must also minimize negative effects on the natural environment.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
HBGCC, 214A

Analysis of Landslide Displacement and Kinematics through Surface Monitoring with RTK-GNSS Arrays

Paper number: 161-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:10 AM – 9:25 AM

Authors

Abstract

Across the state of Oregon, USA, landslides regularly diminish the reliability of transportation systems and pose risks to nearby communities and infrastructure. Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of these active hazards is critical for predicting and mitigating risk to person and property. In 2019, our team began instrumenting landslides across the State with RTK-GNSS arrays that provide the 3D position of strategically placed rovers installed on the landslide surface with centimeter-level accuracy. These systems telemeter data to cloud storage every 30-minutes, providing the opportunity for real-time monitoring and analysis. Here, we evaluate the displacement timeseries of several instrumented landslides across the State, and investigate responses to precipitation both spatially (i.e., for each instrumented site and locally within each landslide) and temporally (i.e., how rainfall response may change throughout the wet season). We focus on case studies of active landslides, both during, and after surge events. With the expanded network of systems installed in diverse geologic and climatic regimes, we explore the sensitivity of several slow-moving landslides to hydrometeorological forcing, as well as the evolving kinematics of landslide complexes evaluated over the monitoring period. These data offer insights into the spectrum of slow-moving landslide behaviors, providing a deeper understanding of both landslide sensitivity to various forcings and their associated kinematics. The findings demonstrate the utility of integrating high-resolution displacement monitoring with rainfall data in investigating the temporal and spatial evolution of landslides.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-412283

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