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Cascading landslides are sequences of multiple landslides that commonly involves significant volumes of material and exhibit variable velocity up to several m/s. The impact of these processes is generally significant so that they can claim victims and be responsible of significant losses. Considering the complexity of the process, their mitigation involves the understanding of causeeffect relations between the initial triggering event and subsequent cascading processes as well as the development of methodological framework for their analysis. On this basis, this work aims to analyse the characteristics of the cascading landslide event of Morino-Rendinara, in the L’Aquila province, applying a procedure that, comprising multiple methods, is capable of providing data depicting mechanism and kinematics of the system, anatomy of landslides and prospective susceptibility scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rockfalls are among the most dangerous natural hazards. The study of these phenomena may be complex in relation to the geology and the rock mass characteristics. Recent advances on the use of remote sensing techniques made the survey of rock slopes easier and faster, increasing the amount and quality of data. At the same time, the improved availability of software for characterizing rock slopes and simulating rockfalls permits a more detailed and precise definition of rockfall hazard areas. In this context, this research highlights the importance of using remote sensing techniques in the study of these phenomena, especially in developing accurate and reliable geological and structural models. The Regional Park of Monte Conero (Ancona, Italy) is used as the case example. The study area has been investigated through conventional geological/structural surveys, UAV photogrammetry and iPad-based LiDAR. The data gathered from surveys have been used to perform rockfall simulations and define potential mitigation measures. Finally, innovative visualization techniques based on the use of Virtual Reality will be introduced for an improved interpretation of geological and structural data and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hazard is recognized to be a threat to human society that is becoming more critical under the perspective of climate change. Italy is one of the most exposed European countries to hydrogeomorphological hazard, as proven by the annual casualties and economic losses. Among the most recent events, the one happened in the Misa river catchment in 2022 is of particular interest for the great amount of rainfall poured in just one night, which led to extensive erosion. The mountainous part of the catchment was hit by several landslides, and the resulting sediments and debris, transported downstream by rivers, increased the amount of damages. This event was interpreted as directly caused by climate change, as it was linked to a tropical storm not common at this latitude. This work proposes an analysis of this exceptional event from a hydrological point of view. The 2022 event was compared with other relevant events from the past, in order to evaluate the peak discharge, the sediment erosion and transport processes in the area for different scenarios. The analysis included the modelling at catchment scale with two physically-based models: SWAT, which provides results on channel processes, and SMART-SED, working at the catchment scale. The two scales of analysis, together with field surveys, gave a better understanding of the evolution of the shallow processes during the events. Finally, this work intends to highlight the relevance of hydrological modelling for the management of hazard in different scenarios at catchment scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the case study of the San Lorenzo road tunnel, a linear infrastructure located in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, affected by the so-called Passo della Morte landslide. This slope instability phenomenon has caused several problems since the beginning of the tunnel construction works, like water seepage and concrete lining detachments, increasing the safety risk for road users. Due to these circumstances, numerous studies have been conducted and a monitoring system has been developed since 2014 to control the ongoing situation of the most damaged portions of the road tunnel. Building on the monitoring data, studies and knowledge accumulated over the years, this paper describes the work done to trace back the sum of landslide-induced stresses directly responsible for the current damages on the tunnel. The first steps taken in this direction have included an adequate representation of the crack pattern on the tunnel vault. This has been used both as an initial goal and as a means of validation in the development of a finite element model. From the latter, it will be possible to infer the landslide-induced stress combination mentioned earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rockfalls are a major hazard for human activities, especially in proximity of infrastructures. The steps in the analysis of rockfalls may include: i) the survey and characterization of rock outcrops, ii) the kinematic assessment and engineering classification of rock masses, ii) stability analysis and rockfall simulations. This research aims to present a toolbox for rockfall hazard studies and risk mitigation. The toolbox has been created combining the existing methods of survey and analysis and new and innovative techniques developed during this project. In particular, the survey techniques that have been analyzed are: i) conventional geomechanical survey, ii) reflex camerabased terrestrial photogrammetry, iii) recently developed Smartphone-based terrestrial photogrammetry and iv) UAVbased photogrammetry. Once evaluated such methods of survey, we discuss the use of gathered data for engineering rock mass classifications and rockfall analyses. The toolbox can represent an innovative and important step in engineering rock slope analyses, allowing to understand advantages and limitations of each survey/analysis technique, not only related to the quality of data and results, but also considering other important aspects, such as the cost, the time of survey and post-processing and the complexity of survey and data management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The town of San Leo, situated in the northern Apennines of Italy, is subject to slope instability phenomena due to its geological/structural setting. The 3D geological model of the eastern sector of the San Leo rocky plateau has been developed through the integration of data obtained from laser scanning and digital photogrammetric surveys along with core drilling geomechanical analysis. The geological features have been integrated into one single model that enables the visualization of all structural features of the plateau, including superficial and in-depth discontinuities. The model highlights how the area rear of the northeastern scarp, formed by the 2014 landslide event, is highly fractured, whereas the eastern cliff presents lower fracture intensity. Two possible collapse scenarios have been simulated in relation to the fracture analysis that has been carried and emulating the 2014 failure mechanism, that involved a rock volume around 330.000 m3. The analysis of persistence of the fractures involved in these scenarios indicate that such events appear not to be imminent at the present time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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