An Open-Source Web Platform to Share Multisource, Multisensor Geospatial Data and Measurements of Ground Deformation in Mountain Areas

Definition of an Operative Methodology for the Management of Rockfalls along with the Road Network

Rockfalls are widespread events in mountain areas worldwide. The management of this process can be done using different approaches. In this paper, we want to analyze the procedure that can be adopted to manage a rockfall event considering the safety of infrastructure and settlements. Focusing on an Alpine region highly affected by rockfalls like the Aosta Valley Region (north-western Italy), we implemented a dedicated procedure for the road network emergency management. This procedure can be activated immediately after a rockfall, and it aims to identify the effect of the collapse, define the danger zone, plan the recovery project and propose temporary solutions for correct residual risk management until the end of the remedial works. In natural hazards, the lack of codified methods can create critical conditions and increase the responsibility of the single operators, who have to effectively manage a critical situation in a limited amount of time without a well-defined procedure. For this reason, the proposed method aims to be a first example of how a correct codification can be used for more sustainable management of this widespread phenomenon.

Linking the Remote Sensing of Geodiversity and Traits Relevant to Biodiversity—Part II: Geomorphology, Terrain and Surfaces

The status, changes, and disturbances in geomorphological regimes can be regarded as controlling and regulating factors for biodiversity. Therefore, monitoring geomorphology at local, regional, and global scales is not only necessary to conserve geodiversity, but also to preserve biodiversity, as well as to improve biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. Numerous remote sensing (RS) approaches and platforms have been used in the past to enable a cost-effective, increasingly freely available, comprehensive, repetitive, standardized, and objective monitoring of geomorphological characteristics and their traits. This contribution provides a state-of-the-art review for the RS-based monitoring of these characteristics and traits, by presenting examples of aeolian, fluvial, and coastal landforms. Different examples for monitoring geomorphology as a crucial discipline of geodiversity using RS are provided, discussing the implementation of RS technologies such as LiDAR, RADAR, as well as multi-spectral and hyperspectral sensor technologies. Furthermore, data products and RS technologies that could be used in the future for monitoring geomorphology are introduced. The use of spectral traits (ST) and spectral trait variation (STV) approaches with RS enable the status, changes, and disturbances of geomorphic diversity to be monitored. We focus on the requirements for future geomorphology monitoring specifically aimed at overcoming some key limitations of ecological modeling, namely: the implementation and linking of in-situ, close-range, air- and spaceborne RS technologies, geomorphic traits, and data science approaches as crucial components for a better understanding of the geomorphic impacts on complex ecosystems. This paper aims to impart multidimensional geomorphic information obtained by RS for improved utilization in biodiversity monitoring.

Impact of Deep-seated Gravitational Slope Deformation on urban areas and large infrastructures in the Italian Western Alps

Deep-seated Gravitational Slope Deformations (DsGSDs) are huge ground-deformation slow evolving phenomena, highly widespread in alpine territory. Their long-lasting evolution, with continuous deformation rate, may represents a natural hazard, able to endanger various anthropic structures and infrastructures. Until today, the development of technical and regulatory tools, aimed to effectively manage the interactions between DsGSDs and anthropic elements, has been generally lightly considered in risk management and land use planning. The definition of the type and severity of impacts on the anthropic elements, becomes increasingly important in terms of urban planning and risk management, and deserve an update in the current adopted procedures. Focusing on the Western Italian Alps, we implemented an interdisciplinary analysis, based on multi-source data, by means of geoinformatics, remote sensing and archive consultation approaches. Intersecting DsGSDs available information with the urbanized territory in a Geographic Information System environment, we obtained, despite the high data heterogeneity, an overall framework of the existing interactions. Specifically, we defined the interactions between these large phenomena and buildings, roads and rail networks, and linear infrastructures, as penstocks, waterworks or dams, also highlighing the state of activity of the inventoried phenomena. Moreover, we analysed the degree of the DsGSD impacts on the anthropic elements, detecting and classifying all the documented damages within the Italian Western Alps territory. The obtained results highlight the need for an innovative approach in DsGSDs risk assessment, both in terms of the definition of their behavior over time and of their impacts on the anthropic elements, for a more effective land use planning and a proper handling of these phenomena in the legislation framework.