Assessing spatiotemporal dynamics of exposure and vulnerability using geolocalized mobile phone data – explored for landslide risks in the Wipp Valley, Austria

Knowing people’s locations is crucial for successful disaster risk management. Within disaster risk research, geolocalized mobile phone data are increasingly recognized in recent years for providing an efficient and cost-effective way to quickly and precisely assess population movement patterns. Alongside location information, additional sociodemographic data such as age and gender are often provided, enabling valuable insights into the susceptibility of individuals to natural hazards. The widespread use of mobile phones, which continuously generate large amounts of real-time data, allows the study of time-dependent differences in human exposure, vulnerability, and consequently risk for large parts of the world’s population.

In this research, geolocalized mobile phone data, capturing exposure and vulnerability represented by user age, were examined as dynamic risk-related components to assess the spatiotemporal variations of landslide risk in the Wipp Valley, Tyrol, Austria. As a representative example, day- and week time dependent spatial differences in risk were analysed for several days in May and June 2024. Since landslide susceptibility values remained static, daily and weekly variations of population movements and the spatial distribution of vulnerable groups caused specific risk patterns.

This knowledge may contribute significantly to disaster risk analysis in the future, underlining the potential of geolocalized mobile phone data for disaster risk management.