{"id":900133,"date":"2022-07-12T15:44:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T21:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=900133"},"modified":"2022-07-12T15:44:35","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T21:44:35","slug":"landslide-potential-hazards-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/landslide-potential-hazards-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Lasers Help WA Scientists Find Potential Landslide Hazards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michael Crowe | High County News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, small planes have buzzed across the skies of Washington carrying specialized instrument packages that peer down through the belly of the aircraft. As they soar above mountains, rivers and valleys, the machinery paints the topography below with laser light thousands of times per second, reflecting the contours of the landscape back to onboard sensors as data, which is later processed to create detailed scans of the terrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This technology is known as LiDAR \u2014 Light Detection And Ranging \u2014 and the flights are the work of the state\u2019s Landslide Hazards and LiDAR programs. The initiatives grew out of tragedy: In 2014, a massive slide broke loose above the small community of Steelhead Haven, near Oso, Snohomish County, in the foothills of the Cascades. Forty-three people were killed, making it the deadliest landslide in U.S. history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afterward, an influx of funding rapidly expanded the nascent programs, and the mandate was clear: Map slides and identify potential hazard zones. \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re ever going to get to a place where there\u2019s no destruction of property from a slide, because you can\u2019t predict when that\u2019s going to happen,\u201d said Kate Mickelson, program manager of the Landslide Hazards Program with the Washington Geological Survey. \u201cBut I would like people to know that there is this risk out there, because I think a lot of people are caught off guard.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An aerial photo (top) and a LiDAR-derived image (above) show the Devil\u2019s Slide, also known as the Van Zandt landslide, near Van Zandt, Washington. (Daniel Coe, Washington Geological Survey)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An aerial photo (top) and a LiDAR-derived image (above) show the Devil\u2019s Slide, also known as the Van Zandt landslide, near Van Zandt, Washington. (Daniel Coe, Washington Geological Survey)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where LiDAR comes in. Laser light filters through the gaps between the branches and leaves of thick vegetation, producing precise images of the ground below. In Washington, it has revealed thousands of past slides, which Mickelson\u2019s team then maps to identify hazard areas. With subsequent visits, LiDAR scans can even show small movements over time that might indicate instability. Multiple states, including Oregon and Colorado, have similar initiatives, though the tragedy at Oso gave Washington\u2019s work a distinct sense of urgency. Staff have also provided support to their counterparts in Alaska as they launch a program, Mickelson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LiDAR data is used by state officials in a variety of other ways, too: to assess hillside stability before timber sales, to identify slides along shorelines that could harm fragile ecosystems or critical infrastructure and to ensure that disaster evacuation routes are safe and reliable. Data is also available to local governments for land-use decisions, including new construction or renovations, and even to individual property owners. \u201cWe had several homes that were destroyed this past winter from landslides, and I don\u2019t know if those people knew they were in a hazard zone,\u201d Mickelson said. \u201cWe really would like to get the message out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change makes mapping landscape hazards increasingly important as more intense rainfall events, which can saturate and destabilize soil, become more likely. On top of that, Washington\u2019s receding glaciers reveal scoured rock that can exacerbate runoff. Factor in the existing challenges of steep slopes in a damp climate and it\u2019s a recipe for trouble. \u201cWe have this ripe setting for landslides to occur, and then you\u2019re adding climate change impacts on top of that,\u201d said Ronda Strauch, a researcher with a doctorate from the University of Washington and climate adaptation adviser for Seattle City Light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire can also increase the danger: After an area burns, downslope communities remain at higher risk for several years, despite a perception that the threat has passed with the flames. The Washington program includes post-wildfire debris-flow assessments, in which crews survey the infrastructure and homes in potential flow paths and communicate the results to residents. That work \u2014 already well-established in fire-prone states like Arizona, Colorado and California, Mickelson said \u2014 is becoming increasingly necessary in the warming Northwest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the perspective that LiDAR provides, it\u2019s still difficult to forecast individual slides, given the complicated interplay between geology, rainfall, groundwater and even triggering earthquakes. At the start of this year, Washington took down an online shallow landslide forecasting map based on rainfall thresholds, concerned that it wasn\u2019t accurate enough. The geological survey hopes to relaunch it in a few years, but in the meantime, the hazards program points people to federal resources, a technical LiDAR portal and a different interactive map it launched at the end of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That map allows people to explore surreal LiDAR composite art created by geological survey graphics editor Daniel Coe showing meandering river paths and obscured slides. And it aligns with the landslide program\u2019s focus on education: connecting people to the land\u2019s long geological story and the hidden threats it can hold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Mickelson and her colleagues, the work will continue. Washington has scanned somewhere between 70% and 75% of the state so far, and is on track to hit virtually 100% in the next few years. But once that first pass is complete, they will start all over again \u2014 to improve the resolution of some areas, monitor changes over time and, ultimately, gain a better understanding of the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes – please call Advise & Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Crowe | High County News For years, small planes have buzzed across the skies of Washington carrying specialized instrument packages that peer down through the belly of the aircraft. As they soar above mountains, rivers and valleys, the machinery paints the topography below with laser light thousands of times per second, reflecting the contours of… Continue reading Lasers Help WA Scientists Find Potential Landslide Hazards<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[9895,11658,306],"class_list":["post-900133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","tag-advise-consult","tag-landslide","tag-washington","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nLasers Help WA Scientists Find Potential Landslide Hazards - 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