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Landslide Research at the British Geological Survey: Capture, Storage and Interpretation on a National and Site‐Specific Scale
Author(s) -
PENNINGTON Catherine,
FOSTER Claire,
CHAMBERS Jonathan,
JENKINS Gareth
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta geologica sinica ‐ english edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1755-6724
pISSN - 1000-9515
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2009.00124.x
Subject(s) - landslide , scale (ratio) , differential gps , hazard , geology , geological survey , geologic map , remote sensing , global positioning system , lidar , field (mathematics) , cartography , geography , seismology , geomorphology , computer science , geophysics , chemistry , mathematics , organic chemistry , telecommunications , pure mathematics
Landslide research at the British Geological Survey (BGS) is carried out through a number of activities, including surveying, database development and real‐time monitoring of landslides. Landslide mapping across the UK has been carried out since BGS started geological mapping in 1835. Today, BGS geologists use a combination of remote sensing and ground‐based investigations to survey landslides. The development of waterproof tablet computers (BGS·SIGMAmobile), with inbuilt GPS and GIS for field data capture provides an accurate and rapid mapping methodology for field surveys. Regional and national mapping of landslides is carried out in conjunction with site‐specific monitoring, using terrestrial LiDAR and differential GPS technologies, which BGS has successfully developed for this application. In addition to surface monitoring, BGS is currently developing geophysical ground‐imaging systems for landslide monitoring, which provide real‐time information on subsurface changes prior to failure events. BGS's mapping and monitoring activities directly feed into the BGS National Landslide Database, the most extensive source of information on landslides in Great Britain. It currently holds over 14 000 records of landslide events. By combining BGS's corporate datasets with expert knowledge, BGS has developed a landslide hazard assessment tool, GeoSure, which provides information on the relative landslide hazard susceptibility at national scale.