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A new monitoring station for debris flows in the European Alps: first observations in the Gadria basin

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Abstract

Debris-flow monitoring in instrumented areas is an invaluable way to gather field data that may improve the understanding of these hazardous phenomena. A new experimental site has been equipped in the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano (Eastern Alps, Italy) for both monitoring purposes and testing early warning systems. The study site (Gadria basin) is a 6.3 km2 catchment subjected to frequent debris flows. The monitoring system in the Gadria basin consists of rain gauges, radar sensors, geophones, video cameras, piezometers and soil moisture probes. Transmission of data and alerts from the instruments exploits in part radio technology. The paper presents the data gathered during the first three years of activity, with two debris-flow events recorded at the station varying in magnitude and characteristics, and discusses the perspectives of debris-flow monitoring and related research.

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Acknowledgments

The monitoring work has been conducted through the participation of the Department of Civil Protection of the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano to the EU Interreg IV B South East Europe—Project Monitor II (2010–2012) and thanks to the funding by the research project “GESTO” granted by the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano. Since September 2012, the monitoring activities are partly funded by the European Territorial Cooperation Alpine Space Programme 2007–2013 “SEDALP” and since March 2013 also by the research project “KINOFLOW” (granted by the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano). Rudolf Pollinger, Head of the Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano, is warmly thanked for supporting the installation of the monitoring station. Stefan Hellweger, from the same Department, helped with the installation and management of the server and of the video cameras. Giancarlo Dalla Fontana, Director of the “CIRGEO” center (Padova), and Simone Calligaro are thanked for the availability and deployment of the TLS, respectively. We thank Austro Control (Austria) and Francesco Marra (University of Padova) for making available the radar rainfall estimates based on weather radar observations from the antenna in Valluga. We thank Enrico Buzzi, Raffaele Foffa, Alberto Gobbi, Nicola Mantese and Omar Oliviero for their support in soil hydrology monitoring. Ylenia Gelmini, Francesco Bettella, Enrico Pozza and Emilio Perina are finally thanked for their help in field surveys.

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Comiti, F., Marchi, L., Macconi, P. et al. A new monitoring station for debris flows in the European Alps: first observations in the Gadria basin. Nat Hazards 73, 1175–1198 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1088-5

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