Title: Landslide risk assessment: a balance between nature and human activity
Abstract:
Rockfalls are fast and unpredictable landslides, with a high destructive power, acknowledged among the most studied geomorphic processes in mountainous areas, where structures and infrastructures represent common elements at risk. In this frame, risk assessment is an essential procedure for mitigation works and territorial management planning. Numerous approaches for hazard and risk zonation are available in literature, and their degree of complexity varies according to the final purpose of the computation. Qualitative methodologies allow quick hazard or risk estimation based on field data and technical assumptions, while quantitative approaches involve specific probabilitstic computations. In both cases, the presence of human activity threatened by rockfall occurrence is the key variable. There is indeed a weak balance between nature and human presence and its mainteinance results from the knowledge of the factors involved into such interaction and on the activity performed for prevention or mitigation. In this study, two cases are presented with reference to the risk assessment along a mountainous road and at a natural slope in a cultural heritage site. In both cases, the methodological approach is based on the knowledge of the geological setting and rock mass conditions, which were estimated trhough field surveys and laboratory tests. Achieved results demonstrate that the rockfall risk is strongly conditioned by the state of activity of instability features and the presence of human activity along the main rockfall potential trajectories. This study allows achieving key information and a risk level zonation, representing a practical tool for territorial and disaster risk management purposes.
Biography:
Dr. Simone Mineo has completed his PhD in Earth, Environmental and Resources Sciences at the age of 30 from Naples University Federico II (Italy). Within a few years, thanks to his intense scientific activity, he obtained the Italian scientific qualification as associate university professor and he is currently a Researcher of Engineering Geology at Catania University (Italy). He has published over 30 papers in international journals and attended severeral conferences as speaker and invited lecturer. He is currently an Editorial Board member of Journal of Mountain Science (Springer) and Guest Editor of a Special Issue published on Applied Sciences (MDPI).
