Giulia Bossi

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection IRPI

The geomorphological change detection through the comparison of repeated topographic surveys is a recent approach that benefits greatly from the latest developments in topographical data acquisition techniques. Among them, airborne LiDAR makes the monitoring of geomorphological changes a more reliable and accurate approach for natural hazard and ri...

Parameter calibration is one of the most problematic phases of numerical modeling since the choice of parameters affects the model’s reliability as far as the physical problems being studied are concerned. In some cases, laboratory tests or physical models evaluating model parameters cannot be completed and other strategies must be adopted; numeric...

Large-scale slow-moving deep-seated landslides are complex and potentially highly damaging phenomena. The detection of their dynamics in terms of displacement rate distribution is therefore a key point to achieve a better understanding of their behavior and support risk management. Due to their large dimensions, ranging from 1.5 to almost 4 km2, in...

Web-based platforms (WBPs) are online spaces where the user can interrogate and analyze data series gathered in quasi-real time from monitoring network/s. These online tools are increasingly used by government agencies, local authorities, contractors, and researchers for visualization, management, control, and analysis of monitoring data. In the ri...

In mountain areas, anthropic pressure is growing while, concurrently, landslide frequency in most of the mountain regions of the world is increasing due to a more extreme precipitation pattern and permafrost deglaciation. Because of budget constraints, the need to investigate innovative and low-cost countermeasures for landslide risk is becoming mo...

Lateral spreading is a complex geomorphological process occurring through the interplay of different factors. Due to their low rates of displacement, lateral spreads in rock are much less investigated than other landslide types even though sometimes they can evolve into faster and more hazardous movements such as topples. The lack of long-term moni...

We are looking for a graduated problem solver with programming skills who's interesting in working on the topic of landslides. More info can be found here http://www.irpi.cnr.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Bando-IRPI-003-2021-PD-signed.pdf Research supervisor: Dr. Matteo Mantovani Calls are open untill 15/03/2021

Machine learning and signal processing can support the definition of landslide alert/alarm systems based on monitoring data. The possibility to rely on a straightforward and automatic procedure to identify hazardous situations could be very useful for risk management and decision makers. In this work, we propose a hierarchical clustering algorithm...

Back-analysis is broadly used for approaching geotechnical problems when monitoring data are available and information about the soils properties is of poor quality. For landslide stability assessment back-analysis calibration is usually carried out by time consuming trial-and-error procedure. This paper presents a new automatic Decision Support Sy...

Back-analysis is broadly used for approaching geotechnical problems when monitoring data are available and information about the soils properties is of poor quality. For landslide stability assessment back-analysis calibration is usually carried out by time consuming trial-and-error procedure. This paper presents a new automatic Decision Support Sy...

Railways and roads frequently cross natural corridors like alluvial plains and alpine valleys. Here, structures and infrastructures can be affected by natural hazards such as floods and landslides. In some cases, the design has disregarded the possible interactions between slope processes and linear infrastructures. This work summarizes a 20-year l...

Space-borne radar interferometry is a fundamental tool to detect and measure a variety of ground surface deformations, either human induced or originated by natural processes. Latest development of radar remote sensing imaging techniques and the increasing number of space missions, specifically designed for interferometry analyses, led to the devel...

The paper presents a multidisciplinary analysis carried out for the characterization and monitoring of a levee in Bozen Province, North Italy. The study treats a small section of the Adige river embankments, interested in the recent past by moderate piping phenomena and subjected to some subsequent interventions for the risk mitigation. The data ac...

Soil heterogeneity plays an important role in incrementing the uncertainty about the reliability of geotechnical engineering works, especially levees. The presence of thin layers of soils more permeable than the surrounding matrix significantly changes the seepage flow net below and within the dike. However, the detection of these layers is extreme...

This study presents the application of the Boolean Stochastic Generation (BoSG) approach to the case study of the Mortisa landslide, an active earth slide flow in the Dolomites (Italy). The approach relies on the stochastic generation of different soil profiles for which the interfingering of distinct layers within a prevailing matrix is randomized...

The study examines a 350 m long section of the Adige river levee, located in the Province of Bolzano (Italy) close to the village of Salorno, that has been affected in the recent past by moderate piping phenomena and subjected to subsequent interventions for the risk mitigation. Extensive geophysical and geotechnical investigations were performed t...

The study examines a 350 m long section of the Adige river levee, located in the Province of Bolzano (Italy) close to the village of Salorno, that has been affected in the recent past by moderate piping phenomena and subjected to subsequent interventions for the risk mitigation. Extensive geophysical and geotechnical investigations were performed t...

The design of countermeasure works to mitigate landslide risk needs to deal with the multiple unknowns that are linked with soil properties, distribution and rheology. Most of the time, the degree of definition of all these elements is low. Through landslide monitoring, it is possible to acquire signals from the landslide that carry synthetic infor...

Back-analysis is widely used dealing with geotechnical problems. For landslide modeling, it is often used to select the most appropriate soil parameters based on monitoring data. It is generally strongly operator dependent through a time consuming trial-and-error procedure. In literature, several methods was suggested to automatize the optimization...

Latest advances in topographic data acquisition techniques have greatly enhanced the possibility to analyse landscapes in order to understand the processes that shaped them. High-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), such as LiDAR-derived ones, provide detailed topographic information. In particular, if multi-temporal DEMs are available, it i...

Introduction: Structural countermeasure works for slope stability are costly and difficult to sustain in term of economic burden for local communities. In some cases, the cost correlated with the engineering activities could be compensated through the association of works that provide economic return on the long term. In this work, we present the c...

Deep-seated Gravitational Slope Deformations (DGSD) are mass movements with volumes exceeding one million cubic meters. The main difference between the so-called large landslides and DGSD is that for the former it is possible to identify a well-defined sliding surface, while the latter are characterized by a more complex dynamic. DGSD are, in fact,...

There is evidence that the toll of death and destruction caused by natural hazards is rising. This is often ascribed to the impact of climate change that resulted in an increased frequency of extreme meteorological events. As a consequence, it is realistic to expect that the casualties and damages caused by floods will increase in the near future....

The paper presents the principles of the slope reprofiling and proves the effectiveness of this stabilization measure. The case study of two adjacent landslides in the National Road 52 “Carnica” in the Tagliamento River valley, the Carnian Alps (46°23′49″N, 12°42′51″E) are the example allowing for illustration of this approach. The phenomena have b...

Two adjacent landslides affect the National Road 52 "Carnica" in the Tagliamento River valley, Carnian Alps (46°23'49" N, 12°42'51" E). The phenomena have been studied for more than a decade allowing a detailed geological and geomorphological reconstruction to be delineated. That was done on the ground of a large number of monitoring data collected...

This works describes the monitoring activity of a road tunnel that interferes with a large landslide provided for the Italian National Road Authority (ANAS). The monitoring network controls the cracks that formed on the tunnel lining due to the unremitting movements of the landslide. Scope of the monitoring campaign is to understand the dynamic of...

Dealing with engineering structures that are not easily replaceable requires frequent assessment of the damage state of the construction in order to estimate its durability and reliability. The procedures that allow damage to be detected and identified are broadly defined as Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). In this work, a SHM network has been d...

Large landslide, especially large slow-moving landslide, do not always show clear sign of deformation. The detection of displacements may come through monitoring although it is difficult to implement when large areas are involved and when cost effectiveness is an issue. Besides large landslides are usually located along major valleys due to the cum...

In mountain environments the mutual interaction between structural elements and surface processes is one of the major driver of landscape evolution. Surface morphology, as a result of this interaction, carries important information to characterize the active structure-process mutual dynamics. For this reason, it is important to derive as much infor...

In the Rotolon catchment (eastern Italian Alps) a large Deep-seated Gravitational Slope Deformation (DGSD) induces secondary phenomena that are threatening the local population. In 2010 a mass of 340.000 m 3 detached from the frontal part of the DGSD and then flow into the draining channel in the form of a debris flow, damaging a bridge and almost...

Rockslides of considerable volume developing on the flanks of narrow alpine valleys represent a significant hazard for the potential of river damming and consequent sudden discharge of water. A limestone rock mass of about 650,000 m3 endangers a portion of the upper course of Tagliamento River valley in northeastern Italy. This section of the vall...

The availability of increasingly higher resolution Digital Ter-rain Models (DTMs) allows to perform a detailed characterization of the morphological features on selected areas of interest. There is a growing interest, within the scientific community, for automatic DTM-based procedures to extract geomorphological features or to model surface process...

The Boolean Stochastic Generation (BoSG) method allows to generate randomly, inside an uniform soil matrix, lenses with different soil properties. In this work the algorithm to implement a BoSG simulation on a 3D model of an actual case-study is presented. In the Carnian Alps, in the Tagliamento River valley (46°23'49" N, 12°42'51" E), two adjacent...

Mapping landslide activity in a highly anthropized area entails specific problems. The integration of different monitoring techniques in order to measure the displacements rate within the slope is mandatory. We describe our activity for the Mortisa landslide which is located on the western flank of the Cortina d'Ampezzo valley (northeastern Italy)...

In order to assess the stability of a landslide, continuous or discontinuous models have been proposed. Here, we compare the two methods in their capability to provide a reliable hazard assessment. Both models have been applied to long term monitoring data obtained from a landslide located in Passo della Morte (Eastern Italian Alps). The availabili...

Natural hazards and land management issues can benefit nowadays from the increasing availability of free, high-resolution satellite imagery that opens the way to fine scale detailed investigations. In high elevation catchments the analysis of vegetation dynamics deserves particular attention since little climatic modifications can be amplified in s...

The responsibilities deployed from the central authorities to local levels acting as first actors of civil protection are a changing pattern in natural hazard management. Prevention and preparedness are long-term goals, rooted in the competence of volunteers, and on the awareness of the citizens as local inhabitants. MAppERS (Mobile Application for...

The responsibilities deployed from the central authorities to local levels acting as first actors of civil protection are a changing pattern in natural hazard management. Prevention and preparedness are long-term goals, rooted in the competence of volunteers, and on the awareness of the citizens as local inhabitants. MAppERS (Mobile Application for...

Natural hazards and land management issues can benefit nowadays from the increasing availability of free, high-resolution satellite imagery that opens the way to fine scale detailed investigations. In high elevation catchments the analysis of vegetation dynamics deserves particular attention since little climatic modifications can be amplified in s...

Within natural processes responsibilities from central authorities to local levels as first actors of civil protection is a changing pattern. Prevention and preparedness in natural hazards are long-term goals based on capacities of professional volunteers, and improving the awareness of the citizens as local inhabitants. Local people have impacts o...

Landslide identification is usually made through interpreting geomorphological features in the field or with remote sensing imagery. In recent years, airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) has enhanced the potentiality of geomorpho-logical investigations by providing a detailed and diffuse representation of the land surface. The development of algorithms...

MAppERS is a co-financed project by European Commission and it is focused on natural hazards risk prevention and emergency response, through the development of a smartphone application. The idea relies on the role of citizens and volunteers as 'territorial mappers' and the information they can provide to civil protection operators through the use o...

When designing the geotechnical model of a landslide the information to define the soil profile within the slope is usually inferred from a small amount of data. This is particularly true for large landslides where the study area is vast and the variability of terrains is high. In this framework, a method allowing the best locations for further fie...

An alternative approach to spatial sampling of strain and displacement, other than point-wise and distributed, is here proposed to the aim of crack monitoring in civil structures. The addressed method exploits a low cost optical technique for the measurement of the cumulative deformation of a polymer optical fibre (POF), used as a sensing element a...

A monitoring system with an integrated web platform that has been installed to control the deformations of a road tunnel that intersects a block slide is presented. The system has been implemented in order to be redundant, scalable and providing the possibility to integrate different types of sensors. In fact, due to the importance of the monitored...

Identifying areas that are directly delivering sediment to the channel network or to a catchment outlet is of great importance for a sound sediment dynamic characterization and for assessing sediment budget. We present an integration of remote sensing analysis techniques to characterize the effective sediment contributing area that is the sub-porti...

Natural hazards and land management issues can benefit nowadays from the increasing availability of free, high-resolution satellite imagery that opens the way to fine scale detailed investigations. In high elevation catchments the analysis of vegetation dynamics deserves particular attention since little climatic modifications can be amplified in s...

In this work, a low cost optical fiber sensing system for cracks growth monitoring in the concrete lining of a road tunnel is presented. A plastic optical fiber (POF), with large dynamic strain range, is used for sensing by means of phase measurement of a RF modulated optical signal. Preliminary results suggest that the system represents a viable s...

Severe instability processes have affected the Rotolon catchment (Eastern Italian Alps) for long time. The first written proof of a landslide occurrence dates back to 1798. The last re-activation occurred in November 2010 when, after a cumulative rainfall of 637 mm in 12 days, a mass of approximately 320,000 m3 detached from the unstable slope and...

Collisions between aircraft and birds, birdstrikes, pose a serious threat to aviation safety. The occurrence of these events is influenced by land-uses in the surroundings of airports. Airports located in the same region might have different trends for birdstrike risk, due to differences in the surrounding habitats. Here we developed a quantitative...

In the northern Italian Alps, along the Tagliamento River valley (46°23'49" N, 12°42'51" E), a large deep-seated landslide affects a road tunnel near "Passo della Morte", along National Road 52 "Carnica". Several secondary phenomena are developing on the unstable slope, as rock block slides and shallow debris slides. This work focuses on the creati...

The Mortisa landslide is located in the urban area of Cortina d'Ampezzo, north-east Italy. The landslide unit consists of three mudslides; the affected area is 3500 m long, stretching from 1750 to 1300 m a.s.l. The landslide has been investigated since 1998 as its track crosses a national route and some buildings have been severely damaged by the m...

A Deep-seated Gravitational Slope Deformation (DGSD) extends over an area of 3.75 km2 in the south-west flank of Mt. Ganderberg, north of Bolzano, Italy. The landslide stretches from an altitude of 2,330 m a.s.l. down to the River Passer at 1,170 m, with an estimated shear surface depth of 100 m. The area is characterized by typical Alpine morpholo...

The uncertainties in the determination of the stratigraphic profile of natural soils is one of the main problems in geotechnics, in particular for landslide characterization and modelling. The study deals with a new approach in geotechnical modelling which relays on a stochastic generation of different soil layers distributions, following a boolean...

Since 1920, recurrent collapses and earth-flows have interested the Rotolon torrent. The last one occurred in November 2010 when about 320,000 m3 detached in the triggering zone and flowed for more than 4 km. This paper deals with the calibration of two numerical models developed for the analysis of flow-like landslide propagation, both using SPH a...

Volunteers have been trained to perform first-level inspections of hydraulic structures within campaigns pro- moted by civil protection of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy). Two inspection forms and a learning session were prepared to standardize data collection on the functional status of bridges and check dams. In all, 11 technicians and 25 volunteer...

The geomorphological change detection through the comparison of repeated topographic surveys is a recent approach that benefits greatly from the latest developments in topographical data acquisition techniques. Among them, airborne LiDAR makes the monitoring of geomorphological changes a more reliable and accurate approach for natural hazard and ri...

Volunteers have been trained to perform first level inspections of hydraulic structures within campaigns promoted by Civil Protection of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy). Two inspection forms and a learning session were prepared to standardize data collection on the functional status of bridges and check dams. Six structures were inspected by technici...

Landslide monitoring is usually linked to a complex physical system with several parameters and uncertainties. Different instruments are located and set up on field, but a simple, continuous and efficient integration is compulsory for an acceptable warning support. The South-East flank of Mount Carega (Eastern Italian Alps) is affected by a complex...

A large DSGDS (Deep-Seated Gravitational Slope Deformation) which extends on an area of 3.75 km2 affects the southwest lank of Mount Ganderberg some 40 km north of Bolzano. The gravitational sagging of the slope is generating a wide ield of tension cracks in the crown area where a rock slab of about 800.000 m3 shows clear precursory signs of possib...