landslide-ewas--early-warning-system

Landslides occur suddenly, and they usually result in extensive monetary, material, and social losses. They are caused due to the elevation of the water level in the ground, usually after a prolonged rainfall.

In order to provide a solution to the problem, we developed an early warning system that informs people about the likelihood of a landslide in a particular area. The system measures the water level in the ground, using measuring devices called piezometric sensors; obviously we did not have the time and resources needed to develop this component, so we used fictitious data. The water level data are read in real time through a computer console that runs a computer program that we developed. The console then runs a computational geotechnical mathematical model that we developed, which evaluates the potential of a landslide. In particular, the geotechnical model uses Bishop's method, which is a widely used method in geotechnical engineering for the evaluation of the stability of a soil slope. The stability of a slope is expressed in terms of the 'Factor of Safety'. After the geotechnical model is run, the console posts the results about the likelihood of a landslide on a website using a color code: a green color indicates that the area is safe, an orange color indicates that there is a low potential for a landslide, and a red color indicates that the area should be immediately evacuated. A smartphone application was also developed, using the Android operating system, which displays the color code on people's smartphones.

We believe that our system will save many lives in the near future.

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