Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247 265

www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo

A warning system for rainfall-induced shallow failures

Pietro Aleotti *
Aquater S.p.A., Via Tolstoj, 86 20098, San Giuliano Milanese, Italy

Abstract
It is widely recognised that soil slips and debris flows are triggered by short intense storms. Owing its geologic,
geomorphologic and climatic settings, the Piedmont Region (NW Italy) is highly prone to the occurrence of this kind of
landslides. In the last two centuries, in fact, a total of 105 severe meteoric events which triggered shallow failures occurred and,
of these, 18 events took place from 1990 to 2002. A fair number of rainfall thresholds have been proposed in the literature,
defined both on empirical or on physical bases. Empirical thresholds are defined collecting rainfall data for landslide meteoric
events and for events without landslides, while physical thresholds are based on numerical models that consider the relation
between rainfall, pore pressure and slope stability. The main objective of this paper is the identification of the empirical
triggering thresholds for the Piedmont Region. Four meteoric events were selected and analysed (November 4 5, 1994; July
7 8, 1996; April 27 30, 2000; October 13 16, 2000) because they supply a wide range of variation for both rainfall
parameters (duration, intensity, cumulative rainfalls) and the number of induced landslides. In the intensity duration plot, the
critical limit is described by the equation: I = 19D
0.50 (where I = rainfall intensity expressed in mm/h and D = rainfall duration
expressed in hours). Such a limit is traced to envelop 90% of the points on the graph. In the NI D diagram the triggering
thresholds are given by the equations NI = 0.76D
0.33 and NI = 4.62D
0.79 (where NI = normalised intensity with respect to the
annual precipitation, MAP, expressed in %, [(mm/h)/PMA]  100). In the article the different meaning of these thresholds is
discussed. Finally, the diagram NI NCR is proposed; the triggering threshold is given by the expression:
NI =
0.09ln[NCR] + 0.54 (where NCR is the normalised cumulative critical rainfall, [mm/PMA]  100). The application of
the triggering thresholds as a fundamental element in a warning system dedicated to the safeguarding of population in landslideprone areas is discussed. In detail an operating procedure which is presently being verified and tested in the studied area is
described.
D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Shallow failures; Soil slips; Debris flows; Rainfall; Triggering thresholds; Warning system; Piedmont Region (Italy)

1. Introduction
The factors affecting slope stability are various, and
virtually most are closely interconnected. Among
these, meteoric events (or rather, the effects induced
by these) are of primary importance, both as predis* Tel.: +39-2-52052600; fax: +39-2-52052586.
E-mail address: pietro.aleotti@aquater.eni.it (P. Aleotti).
0013-7952/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2004.01.007

posing elements, and above all, as triggering factors

(Wieczorek, 1996).
The influence of rainfall on landslides differs substantially depending upon landslide dimensions, kinematics, material involved, etc. Shallow failures are
usually triggered by short intense storms (Campbell,
1975; Lumb, 1975; Brand et al., 1984; Cancelli and
Nova, 1985; Cannon and Ellen, 1985; Wieczorek,
1987; Guzzetti et al., 1992; Polloni et al., 1992; Morgan

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P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

et al., 1997; Crosta, 1998; Corominas and Moya, 1999;

Flentje et al., 2000; Paronuzzi et al., 2002) while most
deep-seated landslides are affected by long-term variation of annual rainfall which has to last several years
(Bonnard and Noverraz, 2001). For landslides such as
rockfalls, no precise correlation with rainfall can be
surmised, as they appear more sensitive towards other
factors such as chemical mechanical weathering of the
rockmass and temperature fluctuation across the freezing point (Sandersen et al., 1996): only late spring and
summer rockfalls can be related with rainfall. For
example, a large fall occurred, after some days of
intense precipitation, in the Brembana Valley (Italian
Central Alps) at the beginning of May 2002, killing
three persons.
Based on the above considerations, it derives that
there are no critical rainfall conditions for every type
of landslide.

This paper discusses soil slips and soil slip-debris

flows in the Piedmont Region, North West Italy (Fig.
1): due to its physical setting (geology, lithology,
climatic conditions) this region is highly prone to this
type of slope instability (Anselmo, 1980; Govi et al.,
1985; Aleotti et al., 1996; Bandis et al., 1996; Polloni
et al., 1996; Sutera Sardo et al., 1996; Aleotti et al.,
1998; Regione Piemonte, 1998; Aleotti and Polloni,
2000; Aleotti et al., 2002). The triggering thresholds
determined for this type of failures are then applied
within a warning system.

2. Landslide-triggering rainfall thresholds

Generally speaking, the term threshold defines
the minimum or maximum (critical) level of some
quantity needed for a process to take place (Reich-

Fig. 1. Location of the studied area (Piedmont Region, NW Italy). Patterns indicate the distribution of areas affected by events of shallow
landsliding (November 1994, July 1996, April 2000, June 2000, October 2000). Regional layout.

P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

enbach et al., 1998). Since the objective of this study is

to define a rainfall threshold with practical applications
in warning systems, thresholds of interest are the
minimum ones, i.e. thresholds that define the lowest
level above which one or more than one landslide can
be triggered.
An analytical dissertation of the concept of rainfall
threshold was recently presented by Iiritano et al.
(1998) who introduced the so-called mobilisation
function, Y(t), that indirectly describes all the factors
that contribute to trigger a landslide and that is
dependent, at every time t, on the amount of water
infiltrated in the soil before the time t (Eq. (1)):
Y t f Iu

with
l < uVt

where I(u) is infiltration intensity at time u.

By defining P[Lt] as the probability of occurrence
of a landslide at time t, and assuming Y1 as the
mobilisation coefficient over which the probability
of landslide occurrence is different from zero, and
Y2 as the mobilisation coefficient over which the
probability of landslide occurrence is certain, the
following alternative hypothesis can be derived:
PLt  0 if Y t < Y1

2a

PLt  gY t

2b

if Y1 VY tVY2

PLt  1 if Y t > Y2

2c

where g[ Y(t)] is a generic function defined in the

interval [ Y1;Y2] having co-domain [0,1]. Eq. (2a)
indicates impossible mobilisation due to rainfall (i.e.
unconditionally stable), vice versa Eq. (2c) indicates
certain mobilisation (i.e. unconditionally unstable).
Assuming Y1 = Y2 = YTH, a threshold scheme is
introduced, free from any probabilistic connection, in
which the event Lt can be considered alternatively as
impossible (Eq. (3a)) or certain (Eq. (3b)):
PLt  0

if Y tVYTH

3a

PLt  1

if Y t > YTH

3b

Two types of landslide-triggering rainfall thresholds can be established:

(i) Empirical thresholds, based on historic analysis of
relationship rainfall/landslide occurrence (i.e.

249

statistical) (Campbell, 1975; Caine, 1980; Crozier

and Glade, 1999);
(ii) Physical thresholds, based on numeric models that
take into account the relationship between rainfall,
pore pressure and slope stability by coupling
hydrologic and stability models (Montgomery and
Dietrich, 1994; Wilson and Wieczorek, 1995;
Crosta, 1998; Terlien, 1998).
Physical thresholds are not widely developed and,
generally, they require detailed knowledge of the
boundary conditions, which are seldom available
outside specially equipped test fields (rain gauges,
piezometers, tensiometers). Recent attempts at a regional scale have been proposed by using distributed
models (Borga et al., 1998; Aleotti et al., 2003; Crosta
et al., 2003).
On the contrary, there are a fair number of empirical
thresholds and different graphs have been used to
represent them, depending upon combinations of the
most commonly used rainfall parameters: antecedent
rainfall, duration, intensity, cumulative rainfall. In the
first suggested elaboration, the triggering thresholds
are simply defined either by the critical cumulative
rainfall (Campbell, 1975) or by the rainfall intensity
(Brand et al., 1984). The most commonly used thresholds are those defining the intensity duration (Caine,
1980), although some conceptual differences among
the various authors exist. Firstly, the dimensions of the
study area vary from a few square kilometres (Wieczorek, 1987), to large regions (i.e. Austrian Alps,
Moser and Hohensinn, 1983). Then, the relationship
suggested by Cannon and Ellen (1985) attempts to
predict the occurrence of abundant landslides, while
that proposed by Wieczorek (1987) only one or more
than one landslide. The intensity duration approach can be further refined by normalising the
intensity value with the mean annual rainfall (MAP),
thus emphasising the regionalization of the thresholds,
since the calculation takes into account the climatic
regimes of the study area (Cannon and Ellen, 1985;
Jibson, 1989; Wieczorek et al., 2000).
Another frequently used graph correlates the total
amount of rainfall until landslide occurrence (critical
cumulative rainfall) with the maximum recorded intensity. A similar representation was proposed by Govi et
al. (1985) in which, however, the critical rainfall value
is compared to mean annual precipitation.

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Antecedent rainfall conditions can be used to

identify thresholds associated to critical daily rainfall.
In the so-called Antecedent Daily Rainfall Model
(Glade et al., 2000), the antecedent rainfall (10 days)
is connected with critical one after being reduced by
a decay factor that defines the rate of soil moisture
decrease within a specific period. The Antecedent
Soil Water Status Model (Glade, 2000b) calculates
the interaction between antecedent rainfall, soil moisture and potential evapotranspiration, and gives as a
result the probability of landslide occurrence for a
given combination of daily rainfall magnitude and
soil moisture, expressed as the soil water status
index.

3. Rainfall events in the piedmont region

The Piedmont Region is frequently affected by
severe meteoric events. From 1800 to 1990, a total
of 87 episodes occurred, which triggered landslides.
Events are mainly concentrated in autumn (53%) that
is the most rainy season in this region (Luino et al.,
1994).
In addition, numerous events took place recently in
this region, the most significant being: 3rd 5th October 1992, 22nd 24th September 1993, 18th May
1994, 26th June 1994, 23rd September 1994, 4th 5th
November 1994, 7th 8th July 1996, 8th 9th October 1996, 28th 29th June 1997, 28th August 1997,
4th 5th September 1998, 23rd October 1999, 27th
30th April 2000, 14th 16th June 2000, 30th September 2000, 13th 16th October 2000, 2nd 5th May
2002, 4th 6th June 2002.
In this study the following events are analysed
(Fig. 1): (i) November 1994 in Langhe Cuneesi area;
(ii) July 1996 in Cusio-Verbano area (Mt. Mottarone);
(iii) April 2000 in western Piedmont; (iv) June 2000
in south-western Piedmont; (v) October 2000 in
western and northern Piedmont.
The choice was dictated by the need to examine
events for which a greater amount of data was
available (including landslide type, location and time

of the landslides occurrence), and also by the need to

examine events that can supply the widest possible
range of variation for significant parameters such as
duration, intensity, critical rainfalls (mean and maximum) and number of induced landslides. Fig. 2
summarises for each events the cumulative rainfall
trend. The pluviometric characteristics of critical rainfalls measured during the events have a rather large
spectrum, both in terms of duration (between 7 and
112 h) and (mean) critical intensity (between a minimum of 2 mm/h and a maximum of over 26 mm/h).
The number of triggered landslides differs substantially from one situation to another as well as the
density.
The November 4 5, 1994 event affected a very
large territory (7500 km2) and was probably the most
catastrophic of the 20th Century in Piedmont, both in
terms of damage (80 casualties and approximately
1  109 US$ of damage) and of number of landslides
(more than 10,000, many as new failures). The event
aroused great interest in the Italian scientific community and resulted in a large number of publications
(Aleotti et al., 1996; Bandis et al., 1996; Clarizia et al.,
1996; Forlati et al., 1995; Polloni et al., 1996; Sutera
Sardo et al., 1996). The present study focuses on the
Langhe Cuneesi area where soil slips were most
abundant (approximately 3000 with density higher
than 100 landslides/km2 in the upper portion of
secondary basins).
The centre of the July 7 8, 1996 flood was a small
area (70 km2) near Mt. Mottarone. The storm triggered around 30 soil slips and debris flows in four
watersheds: debris torrents spread out on the alluvial
fans, causing one victim and severe damage (Chiarle
and Luino, 1996).
The April 27 30, 2000 meteorologic event involved the mountain and foothill areas of the western
hydrographic basins, from the Po to the Dora rivers. It
originated 100 soil slips, some of which evolved to
debris flows. In some areas the soil slips started as
translational slides. Man activities represented an
indirect contributory cause of failure in almost 30%
of the recorded cases: they are due, particularly, to

Fig. 2. Cumulative rainfalls versus time (15 days antecedent and critical rainfalls) recorded at various rain gauges in the areas affected by the
selected meteoric events: (a) November 1994; (b) July 1996; (c) April 2000; (d) June 2000; (e) October 2000 (Orco Valley, Sesia Valley, Stura
Valley, Ossola Valley). Small square in the left-hand side shows an example of time lag in the beginning of critical rainfall in different rain
gauges during the November 1994 meteoric event.

P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

251

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P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

road cuts/embankment on hill slopes, inadequate

drainage of surface water and overloading.
The June 14 16, 2000 event took place in western
and south-western Piedmont, and affected mainly the
area between the Susa Valley (Dora River), to the
north, and Pesio Valley, to the south. More than 100
landslides (102) were inventoried. The vast majority
of failures (95) were soil slips and occurred primarily
in the Maira and Stura di Demonte valleys (almost
40% of total landslides), causing interruptions and
damages to roads (82%) and buildings (10%)
(Regione Piemonte, 2000).
The October 13 16, 2000 meteoric event struck
approximately 25% of the entire Piedmont Region.
Almost 500 landslides were triggered, especially in
the northern (Ossola Valley, Sesia Valley, Lanzo and
Orco valleys) and western parts (Pellice Valley) of the
region. Over 62% of the landslides consisted in soil
slips, and 19% were rotational slides. Falls (5%) and
other types of landslides were less frequent (Aleotti et
al., 2002). Most of the material involved by the
landslides consisted of incoherent deposits, and to a
lesser extent, of debris and loose soil. Almost everywhere, the most consistent damage caused by slope
failures were along primary and secondary roads
(70%) and, secondly, in buildings (16%).

4. Rainfall thresholds
4.1. Input data
In a recent publication, Crosta and Frattini (2001)
emphasised the importance of having accurate databases containing all the information needed to study
rainfall events. Equally important is the type of
information used in a study, which must be carefully
defined in order to enable comparison between data
produced by researchers operating in very different
geographic contexts.
In this study we used hourly rainfall data for
critical precipitation, and daily rainfall measurements
for the previous days. Conventionally, critical precipitation indicates the amount of rainfall from the time
(zero point) in which a sharp increase in rainfall
intensity is observed and the triggering of the (first)
landslide (Fig. 3). This increase results in a significant
break in the slope of the rainfall cumulative curve.

Fig. 3. Definition of rainfall parameters.

Duration of the critical rainfall event, always expressed in hours in the processing, is the time that
elapses from the beginning of critical precipitation to
activation of the landslides. In this paper rainfall data
are normalised with respect to the mean annual
precipitation (MAP). The ratio between the critical
precipitation of the event and the mean annual precipitation of the site is defined as Normalised Critical
Rainfall (NCR). In literature this ratio is also called
Normalised Storm Rainfall (NSR) (Guidicini and
Iwasa, 1977).
The Piedmont Region is monitored by a great
number of rain gauges. Selection of the rain gauge
that will be associated to a slide is extremely important, as the pelt-point responsible for superficial slides
can be both small and rapid. This may involve a
significant difference in data registered by two close
gauges for the same rainfall episode. The difference
does not concern normalised critical precipitation
values only (see Fig. 2), but also how rainfalls
develop, i.e. the beginning of critical rainfall. For
example, if the beginning of critical precipitation is
not carefully identified, it could lead to misleading
quantification of critical rainfall values and mean
intensities and hence, incorrect calculation of critical
thresholds. It has been observed that during a meteoric
event within a fairly small area, the inset of critical
rainfall can vary substantially from one gauge to
another (even 12 and 15 h in the June 2000 and
October 2000 floods, respectively).
Fig. 4 shows the importance of the location of rain
gauges, which should be as close as possible to the
landslide. This graph was obtained by measuring the

P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

253

Fig. 4. Correlation between the mutual distance of rain gauges and maximum difference in normalised hourly rainfall.

mutual distance between the gauges in a given area

and by calculating, for each pair of gauges, the
maximum difference measured in hourly precipitation
(normalised) during an event of intense rainfall. We
can reasonably conclude that, even with a significant
scatter (r2 = 0.2), a direct relation exists between the
maximum difference in rainfall values and the distance between rain gauges. Such a relation is greater
for distances lower than 10 15 km and decreases for
larger distances.
Additional research is needed to determine the
importance of selecting a reference gauge for a given
landslide. The significance of rainfall data referred to
a certain surficial slides does not depend entirely on
distance, but also on other factors such as elevation
and aspect of the measuring gauge, and generally, on
its position (also in relation to the prevailing wind
direction in the area).
A significant example is the difference between the
values recorded by the rain gauges in Macugnaga
Passo Moro and Macugnaga Pecetto during the October 2000 flooding event in Ossola Valley (Fig. 5).
Although the distance between the two gauges is only
1.5 km, from 12 to 16 October 2000 the rain gauge in
Macugnaga Pecetto measured 576 mm of rainfall
(maximum hourly intensity 16.2 mm/h) as opposed
to the 158 mm measured by the gauge in Macugnaga

Passo Moro (maximum hourly intensity 7.6 mm/h). In

this case the difference can be attributed both to the
elevation and to the position of the rain gauges: the
one in Macugnaga Passo Moro is located at 3000 m
above the sea level and near a crest of the watershed
and the one in Macugnaga Pecetto is situated at 1500
m a.s.l. on a large slope that might act as a barrier
against cloud fronts.
4.2. Relationship between antecedent and critical
rainfall
It has been recognised in the literature that antecedent rainfall can be a predisposing factor in the activation
of soil slips (Wieczorek, 1987). The influence of
antecedent rainfall is difficult to quantify as it depends
on several factors, including the heterogeneity of soils
(strength and permeability properties) and the regional
climate. In tropical areas, for example, antecedent
rainfall is not an important factor (Brand, 1992) as well
as in slopes covered with coarse colluvium having large
interparticle voids, debris flows can occur without
significant antecedent rainfall (Corominas and Moya,
1999). Similar response can be observed even in
pervious soils due to the presence of preferential
groundwater passageways (macropores, animal burrows, root channels) (Corominas, 2000). On the con-

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P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

Fig. 5. Difference in rainfall values measured by rain gauges in Macugnaga Pecetto and Macugnaga Passo Moro during the October 2000
meteoric event: bars correspond to the hourly rainfalls (left Y-axis, mm/h) recorded in Macugnaga Pecetto rain gauge (white bars) and
Macugnaga Passo Moro rain gauge (black bars), lines indicate the relevant cumulative rainfalls (right Y-axis, mm).

trary, in low-permeability soils antecedent rainfall can

be an important factor because it reduces soil suction
and increases the pore-water pressures in soils. However, the time interval established as significant by the
various authors differs considerably: 5 days (Wieczorek et al., 2000), 10 days (Crozier, 1999; Glade et
al., 2000), 15 days (Govi et al., 1985).
The time intervals taken into consideration for the
events examined in this paper were 7, 10 and 15 days.
However, results show that not significant correlation
exist between antecedent and critical rainfall: the
scattering of the population sample, in fact, is very
high and the relevant correlation coefficients are
r2 = 0.17, r2 = 0.16 and r2 = 0.32 for the 7-, 10- and
15-day intervals, respectively. Curves in Fig. 6 envelop 90% of the plotted rainfall events for 7- and 10-day
intervals. Equations are expressed as follows:
NCR 12:45e
0:15NAR

NCR 11:50e
0:08NAR

where NCR = normalised critical rainfall (%) and

NAR = normalised antecedent rainfall (%).

4.3. Empirical thresholds

A preliminary assessment consisted in calculating
the rain path measured at various rain gauges during
the events, and plotting it on intensity duration
graph. The rain paths were calculated by establishing
the initial hour of a given critical rainfall in a selected
gauge, and determining the mean intensity at fixed
intervals (1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h from start) until the first
landslide was triggered. Thus, the final point represents the mean intensity calculated over the entire
period of critical rainfall.
The rain path indicates that in the majority of cases
(48%) failure occurs when the 50-year return period
of rainfall is exceeded (Fig. 7). This limit is more
significant in the case of exceptional rainfall events, as
in the floods of November 1994 (64%) and October
2000 (53%). Instead, for less intense rainfall episodes
(April 2000), the RT10 limit becomes the triggering
threshold (71%).
Based on the above considerations we can conclude that the curves calculated in the rain gauges for
rainfalls with different return periods (RT10, RT50)
may represent a first type of triggering thresholds,
which despite the approximation could represent ef-

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255

Fig. 6. Relation between normalised antecedent rainfalls (NAR) and normalised critical rainfalls (NCR) for 7- and 10-day intervals. Lines
envelop 90% of the plotted data for 7- and 10-day intervals.

fective limits for critical rainfall events of varying

magnitude. The RT10 threshold could be representative of rainfall events that cause a modest number of
failures (low magnitude, such as the April 2000
event), while the RT50 threshold could indicate events

capable of triggering numerous landslides (as the

November 1994 event). Notwithstanding the use of
these thresholds in a warning system is not advisable.
In the intensity duration graph, we identified a
critical limit for fairly wide range of durations (Fig. 8).

Fig. 7. Position of failures with respect to the statistical curves RT10 and RT50.

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P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

Fig. 8. Triggering threshold in graph I D for shallow landslides in the Piedmont Region. Curve [90] encompasses 90% of the available data and
represents the triggering threshold; the other limits [75, 50, 50, 25, 10] envelop different percentage of points in the graph.

The equation of this threshold (curve [90]) assumes on

the following exponential law (Eq. (6)):
I 19D
0:50

where I=(mean) rainfall intensity calculated in mm/

h and D = duration of critical rainfall event expressed
in hours.
This curve is calculated to include 90% of the
points on the graph; the 90% limit was established
arbitrarily and is dictated by the need to both limit the
maximum number of cases possible, and also, to
eliminate sporadic and therefore unrepresentative
cases. The other curves of the graph were calculated
for inclusions 75%, 50%, 25% and 10%, respectively,
and take on the following intercept values: 23.5, 34.0,
52.3 and 64.9. In graph I D the critical threshold was
represented as a line rather than a curve since the
intense and short events (shorter than 10 h) are not
adequately represented in the set of available data.
When the new threshold is compared with those
available in literature (Fig. 9), it appears very similar
to the one proposed for Italian Central Alps (Ceriani et
al., 1994). The difference is a slightly lower exponent
(
0.50 against
0.55). It is interesting to note that it

is also very close to the classical Caine threshold

(1980): this similarity is even more surprising considering that the threshold suggested by Caine has been
calculated as a valid limit for the entire World.
By normalising the intensity value, it is possible to
represent the three rainfall parameters simultaneously
(intensity, duration and mean annual rainfall) (Cannon, 1988) (Fig. 10). The points indicate the maximum intensities registered for the duration considered
(1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h), besides the normalised intensity
relative to the moment in which the landslide was
triggered.
Fig. 10 shows two different thresholds in graph
NI D (Eqs. (7) and (8)), which refer to two different
methods of data interpolation.
NI 0:76D
0:33 curve A

NI 4:62D
0:79 curve B

where NI = normalised critical intensity (%) and

D = duration of critical event (h).
Curve A encompasses all the available data in
figure, considering critical rainfall in its whole (Cannon and Ellen, 1985). Curve B considers only nor-

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257

Fig. 9. Comparison of the triggering threshold in graph I D with those reported in the literature. The thresholds proposed by Caine (1980) and
Crosta and Frattini (2001) are prepared by using all the data available at the date for the world; the thresholds by Cancelli and Nova (1985),
Ceriani et al. (1994) and Clarizia et al. (1996) are referred to wide areas with different soil, morphologic and rainfall characteristics. Threshold
proposed by Bolley and Oliaro (1999) is calculated for the upper Susa Valley (Dora river, see Fig. 1) within the studied area of this paper.

Fig. 10. Triggering thresholds in graph NI D for the Piedmont Region. Curve A encompasses all the available data, while curve B considers
only normalised intensity relative to the moment in which the landslide was triggered.

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P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

Fig. 11. Definition of critical triggering thresholds in NI NCR graph. Curve [100] envelops all the available data; curve [90] encompasses 90%
of the points in the graph.

malised intensities relative to the moment in which the

landslide was triggered, thus enveloping the less
dispersed part of the cluster of points. A comparison
with the thresholds available in literature for different
territorial contexts shows a certain similarity with the
curves proposed by Ceriani et al. (1994) and Wilson et
al. (1992).
The curve identified as critical threshold in the
diagram NCR NI (RBMCJ, 1985) is given by Eq. (9):
NI
0:09lnNCR 0:54

where NI = normalised intensity (%) and NCR = normalised critical rainfall (%) (Fig. 11). Curve (9) corresponds to the lower limit of 90% of the points on the
graph.

5. Applying thresholds to warning systems

An interesting use of empirically based thresholds
is in warning systems. Indeed, thresholds are an
important element of these systems, which must be
composed of several basic components related to
rainfall forecasts, real-time rainfall monitoring and

rainfall landslide thresholds. One of the first warning

systems was developed by the USGS in the San
Francisco Bay area (Keefer et al., 1987; Wilson and
Wieczorek, 1995). It was based on the quantitative
precipitation rainfall forecast (QPRF) provided by the
National Weather Service (each forecast gave predicted rainfall for the upcoming 6 h), on a network
of more than 40 real-time continuous rainfall gauges,
and on the rainfall threshold for initiation of landsliding (Cannon and Ellen, 1985). When actual real-time
readings in conjunction with predicted values
approached the threshold, a warning message was
issued. Similar systems were also developed and
described in Hong Kong (Brand et al., 1984), Italy
(Sirangelo and Braca, 2001), Japan (Onodera et al.,
1974), New Zealand (Crozier, 1999), South Africa
(Gardland and Olivier, 1993) and Virginia (Wieczorek
and Guzzetti, 1999). In Hong Kong, the Geotechnical
Engineering Office (GEO) has recently implemented a
new entirely automated computer system (Landslip
Warning System) that is the world first in landslide
forecasting and is now in everyday use (Premchitt,
1997). The Landslip Warning System is based on
short-term rainfall forecast and it is composed of 86
rain gauges. In addition to data from rain gauges,

P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

radar and satellite images are used to monitor the

movement and development of rain-bearing clouds.
The Landslip Warning is generally issued if the 24h rainfall is expected to exceed 175 mm, or the 60-min
rainfall is expected to exceed 70 mm over a substantial part of the urban area: in such a situation, local
radio and television stations are requested to broadcast
the warning to the public at regular intervals.
A warning threshold could be introduced upstream
to the actual triggering threshold (RBMCJ, 1985), i.e.
a limit which, if exceeded, activates emergency procedures in areas susceptible to landslides triggered by
rainfall. Any of the above-stated graphs that indicate
triggering thresholds can be used to identify warning
thresholds. When identifying warning thresholds, it is
important to take into account both the trend of
triggering thresholds and the logistical problems that
could occur during emergency evacuation procedures.
For example, warning thresholds can be defined as
curves that are parallel to the triggering thresholds

259

(curve A in Fig. 12), or as curves that, once the critical

time Dtc has been established (i.e. the minimum time
required to evacuate the population at risk), it remains
constant regardless of the rain path of a given critical
rainfall, Dtc1 = Dtc2 (curve B in Fig. 12).
Fig. 13 describes an operating procedure which is
presently being verified and tested in the study area.
The procedure is activated after the quantitative precipitation rainfall forecast. Based on forecast, a preliminary assessment is made of the probability that the
warning and critical thresholds will be exceeded. The
forecasting phase has improved considerably in recent
years, thanks to the development of specific techniques such as the Doppler Radar (Smith et al., 1996),
which enables the accurate quantification of forecasted rainfall.
In a situation of ordinary attention, in which it is
assumed that the critical limits will not be exceeded,
the forecasting procedure is repeated. Vice versa, if
the forecast predicts rainfall exceeding the warning

Fig. 12. Criteria used to plot warning curves based on the triggering threshold. Warning curve is defined as a limit that, if exceeded, activates an
emergency procedure. Necessarily it has to be traced upstream the triggering threshold.

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P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

Fig. 13. Operating procedure based on thresholds.

and triggering thresholds, i.e. indicating a potentially

critical situation, the alert phase is activated and, in
landslide-prone areas, a risk assessment procedure is
initiated in real time (for the Piedmont Region a
landslide susceptibility map is available, Aleotti et
al., 2000). This implies the acquisition of rainfall data
recorded by the involved rain gauges; data on antecedent rainfall for periods of 10 days prior to the
event; historic information on the rain gauges
(rainfall return times, mean annual rainfall, etc.). At

this stage, the rainfall data has to be analysed in order

to identify the beginning of critical rainfall on the
time-cumulative rainfall curve, i.e. the rainfall that
may potentially trigger soil slips. Once the point of
origin of the rain paths (zero point) has been
identified, the precipitation trend can be traced on
specific graphs in relation to the warning threshold
that has been adopted. The alarm phase is activated
once the warning thresholds are exceeded, and the
emergency procedure is implemented.

P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

The warning system as defined in its general

structure could be based, at least in the medium-term
preliminary assessment (days), on the relationship
between antecedent rainfall and critical rainfall. A
possible scheme is described in Fig. 14. With reference to normalised antecedent rainfall for periods of 7
and 10 days, respectively, it has been calculated that
the curves that constitute the lower limits of 90% of
data are represented by Eqs. (4) and (5), respectively.
Starting, for example, from the cumulative rainfall in
n days preceding a given time t (Xn with n = 7 or 10),
it is possible to define the volume of critical rainfall,
Yn, which suggests the triggering of surficial slides by
saturation. If the weather forecast states that value Yn
will be reached in the upcoming hours, the warning
procedure is activated. In order to identify a critical

261

duration of the Yn we used Eqs. (8) and (9) to obtain

Eq. (10):
lnNCR 8:35lnD
10:465

10

which expresses the relationship between normalised

critical rainfall (NCR) and duration (D) of the event
(Fig. 15). This curve can be used as triggering
threshold in Fig. 14.
The use of both 7 and 10 days critical triggering
together is the optimal solution. In general, two
different situations can occur: (i) rainfall antecedent
to time t is mainly concentrated in the last 7 days. In
this case Y10>Y7 and it would be more prudential to
use Y7 as critical rainfall value; (ii) rainfall is particularly abundant between the 8th and 10th day ante-

Fig. 14. Scheme based on antecedent rainfall in a warning system.

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P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

Fig. 15. Relationship between duration (D) and normalised critical rainfall (NCR).

cedent to time t. In this case, Y10 < Y7, and the warning
procedure must be set on the critical rainfall volume
indicated by Y10.

6. Concluding remarks
The empirical thresholds described in this paper are
a fundamental element of the implemented real-time
warning systems. However, when using them, we
must take into account several major restrictions. A
basic limitation that can be defined as conceptual
(Reichenbach et al., 1998) is that thresholds inevitably
represent a simplification of the relationship between
rainfall and landslide occurrence. Rainfall is not the
direct cause of failures which, in fact, are caused by
the build-up of high porewater pressure in the slope, a
phenomenon that is also related to hydraulic, physical
and mechanical properties of terrain and to other
environmental factors like slope, vegetation cover,
climatic characteristics of the area. A second aspect
is tied to the type and the quality of data used to
identify triggering thresholds. In this paper we highlighted the importance of accurately determining the
beginning of critical rainfall and the hour of landslide
triggering, as well as the need to refer each failure to a
relatively close rain gauge. Equally important is the
compilation of a detailed database immediately after a

critical event (Reichenbach et al., 1998; Crosta and

Frattini, 2001). It is necessary to: (i) identify the
event; (ii) indicate date and duration of the event;
(iii) define the area involved; (iv) identify associated
rain gauges. In addition, the following information
must be acquired for each rain gauge: (a) geographic
coordinates; (b) daily antecedent rainfall for a period
of at least 15 days; (c) hourly rainfall over the whole
event; and (d) statistical curves for each rain gauge
and for given return periods.
Throughout this study we could not identify a
significant correlation between antecedent rainfall
and critical rainfall. Nevertheless, further studies are
needed to investigate the influence of antecedent
rainfall with the increase of the antecedent days value
(Glade, 2000a).
As regards the triggering thresholds, new curves
have been proposed for the graphs used in the
literature. Comparison with other thresholds pointed
out the similarity with those proposed by Ceriani et al.
(1994) for the Italian Central Alps. The thresholds
could be implemented and further refined by introducing other case studies in the analysis. The combination of approaches presented herein with other
hydrological geotechnical approaches should be
implemented at smaller, more detailed scales, and
for specific rainfall events. An effort in this direction,
by applying the Montgomery and Dietrich model

P. Aleotti / Engineering Geology 73 (2004) 247265

(1994), was made in north-western Piedmont in relation to the flooding event which occurred in Vigezzo
Valley (Ossola Valley) on 7 8 August 1978 (Campus
et al., 2001).
Research has to be directed to establish the uncertainties associated to the critical thresholds (Chowdhury and Flentje, 2002; Flentje and Chowdhury, 2001,
2002).
The most appropriate use of critical thresholds is in
real-time warning systems. A general outline of this
procedure has been defined. A test application of this
procedure has been scheduled for a real event (in back
analysis) to enable its calibration and refinement.

Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Thomas Glade and Fausto Guzzetti
for having provided a very helpful review of the
manuscript. Sincere thanks to Robin Chowdhury,
Giovanni Crosta, Phil Flentje, Mario Lagorio and
Giovanni Polloni, for discussion and valuable comments during the preparation of the earlier version of
the paper. Thanks are owed to Jordi Corominas and to
an anonymous referee who greatly improved the
paper. The Piedmont Region Authority (Direzione
Servizi Tecnici di Prevenzione, Settore Meteoidrografico e Reti di Monitoraggio) is kindly acknowledged
for having provided the rainfall data reported in this
work. The study has been partly funded by the
INTERREG IIC Project carried out for the Piedmont
Region.
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