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Potential rock fall source areas identification and rock fall propagation in the province of Potenza territory using an empirically distributed approach

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Abstract

In this work an overview of the potential rock fall source areas and propagation assessment in the Province of Potenza territory has been presented. The rock fall process is characterized by two steps: the detachment of blocks and subsequently their propagation along the slope. The adopted methodology, used for the first time in the study area, and the software Histofit and FlowR have been very useful tools for the preliminary assessment of rock fall susceptibility at a regional scale, in particular because they have required low data of the study area. Only the DEM may be sufficient together with an appropriate choice of the input parameters and algorithms, that is to say: calculation method, directions algorithm, inertial algorithm and friction loss function. The output of the model is a map of the rock fall source areas, the propagation probabilities and the propagation kinetic energy. The results show that the adopted methodology is successful for the identification of rock fall source areas at a regional scale and the propagation probability obtaining an interesting rock fall susceptibility map.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy

    Lucia Losasso & Francesco Sdao

  2. Institute of Earth Sciences (ISTE), Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Michel Jaboyedoff

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  1. Lucia Losasso
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  2. Michel Jaboyedoff
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  3. Francesco Sdao
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Correspondence to Lucia Losasso.

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Losasso, L., Jaboyedoff, M. & Sdao, F. Potential rock fall source areas identification and rock fall propagation in the province of Potenza territory using an empirically distributed approach. Landslides 14, 1593–1602 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-017-0807-x

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