Geophysical imaging for local landslide early warning systems

A complete assessment of slope stability is achieved by identifying and monitoring the subsurface properties and processes leading to slope failure conditions. Monitoring technologies need to be applied at appropriate scales and resolution, and with sufficient coverage, to be able to assess these conditions in local landslide early warning systems. A holistic understanding of the subsurface at the slope-scale is not always captured by some landslide monitoring approaches, such as remote sensing observations with limited depth penetration or sparse resolution, or point sensor measurements with highly localised information. Geophysical techniques have demonstrable capacity to link between the different scales, resolutions and coverage of these established landslide monitoring techniques. Here, we present a novel framework identifying the benefits and limitations of including geophysical imaging and monitoring techniques at different stages of local landslide early warning system strategies. These include the use of geophysical inputs to aid the design of local landslide early warning systems, monitor slopes at risk of failure, inform forecasting, and support decision making for stakeholders.