A Hydrologically Based Model for Delineating Hazard Zones in the Valleys of Debris Flow Basins

Abstract. A hydrologically based model is developed for delineating hazard zones in valleys of debris flow basins. The basic assumption of this model is that the ratio of peak discharges of any two cross sections in a debris-flow basin is a power function of the ratio of their flow accumulation areas. Combining the advantages of the empirical and flow routing models of debris-flow hazard zoning, this hydrological model with minimal data requirements has the ability to produce hazard intensity values at different event magnitudes. The algorithms used in this model are designed in the framework of grid- based geographic processing and implemented completely on ArcGIS platform and a Python scripting environment. Qipan basin in the Wenchuan county of Sichuan province, southwest China where a large-scale debris-flow event occurred on July 11, 2013 was chosen as the test case for the model. The hazard zone identified by the model showed good agreement with the real inundation area of the event. The proposed method can help identify small hazard areas in upstream tributaries and the developed model is promising in terms of its application in debris-flow hazard zoning.

[1]  J. E. Gartner,et al.  Empirical models for predicting volumes of sediment deposited by debris flows and sediment-laden floods in the transverse ranges of southern California , 2014 .

[2]  Qiang Zou,et al.  Characteristics of clustering debris flows in Wenchuan earthquake zone , 2013, Journal of Mountain Science.

[3]  Michel Jaboyedoff,et al.  Flow-R, a model for susceptibility mapping of debris flows and other gravitational hazards at a regional scale , 2013 .

[4]  Yu Yang,et al.  Prediction of debris-flow danger area by combining hydrological and inundation simulation methods , 2011 .

[5]  Scott McDougall,et al.  Two numerical models for landslide dynamic analysis , 2009, Comput. Geosci..

[6]  W. Z. Savage,et al.  Guidelines for landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk zoning for land-use planning , 2008 .

[7]  Allen Bateman,et al.  Evaluation of approaches to calculate debris-flow parameters for hazard assessment , 2008 .

[8]  Alessandro Simoni,et al.  Prediction of debris flow inundation areas using empirical mobility relationships , 2007 .

[9]  D. Laigle,et al.  Comparison of 2D debris-flow simulation models with field events , 2006 .

[10]  Peter Rutschmann,et al.  Comparison of flow resistance relations for debris flows using a one-dimensional finite element simulation model , 2006 .

[11]  Yongqi Wang,et al.  Modelling debris flows down general channels , 2005 .

[12]  Alexandre Remaître,et al.  Assessing debris flow hazards associated with slow moving landslides: methodology and numerical analyses , 2004 .

[13]  Andreas Kääb,et al.  Regional-scale GIS-models for assessment of hazards from glacier lake outbursts: evaluation and application in the Swiss Alps , 2003 .

[14]  A. Patra,et al.  Computing granular avalanches and landslides , 2003 .

[15]  Wei Fq 韦方强,et al.  Method and its application of the momentum model for debris flow risk zoning , 2003 .

[16]  C. F. Lee,et al.  Landslide characteristics and, slope instability modeling using GIS, Lantau Island, Hong Kong , 2002 .

[17]  Richard M. Iverson,et al.  Flow of variably fluidized granular masses across three‐dimensional terrain: 2. Numerical predictions and experimental tests , 2001 .

[18]  Vincenzo D'Agostino,et al.  Debris flow magnitude in the Eastern Italian Alps: data collection and analysis , 2000 .

[19]  J. Vallance,et al.  OBJECTIVE DELINEATION OF LAHAR-INUNDATION HAZARD ZONES , 1998 .

[20]  Philippe Coussot,et al.  Numerical modeling of mudflows , 1997 .

[21]  Oldrich Hungr,et al.  A model for the runout analysis of rapid flow slides, debris flows, and avalanches , 1995 .

[22]  P. Julien,et al.  Two‐Dimensional Water Flood and Mudflow Simulation , 1993 .

[23]  S. Savage,et al.  The motion of a finite mass of granular material down a rough incline , 1989, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[24]  John F. O'Callaghan,et al.  The extraction of drainage networks from digital elevation data , 1984, Comput. Vis. Graph. Image Process..

[25]  Michael Becht,et al.  Spatial modelling of debris flows in an alpine drainage basin , 2004 .

[26]  Dieter Rickenmann,et al.  Empirical Relationships for Debris Flows , 1999 .

[27]  R. Iverson,et al.  U. S. Geological Survey , 1967, Radiocarbon.