•Selected extreme rainfall events in the last 25years in Slovenia were investigated.•Rainfall characteristics triggering flash floods and landslides are different.•Copulas yield useful ...intensity–duration–frequency relationship (IDF).•Rainfall inter-event time selection has significant influences on IDFs.•Different rainfall thresholds should apply in different parts of Slovenia.
Floods, landslides and debris flows are natural events that occur all over the world and are often induced by extreme rainfall conditions. Several extreme events occurred in Slovenia (Europe) in the last 25years that caused 18 casualties and approximately 500million Euros of economic loss. The intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) relationship was constructed using the Frank copula function for several rainfall stations using high-resolution rainfall data with an average subsample length of 34years. The empirical rainfall threshold curves were also evaluated for selected extreme events. Post-event analyses showed that rainfall characteristics triggering flash floods and landslides are different. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that the inter-event time definition (IETD) and subsample definition methodology can have a significant influence on the position of rainfall events in the intensity–duration space, the constructed IDF curves and on the relationship between the empirical rainfall threshold curves and the IDF curves constructed using the copula approach. Furthermore, a combination of several empirical rainfall thresholds with an appropriate high-density rainfall measurement network can be used as part of the early warning system of the initiation of landslides and debris flows. However, different rainfall threshold curves should be used for lowland and mountainous areas in Slovenia.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
During the last decade, several rainfall-induced deep-seated large landslides with volumes of the order of 1 million m
3
were triggered in various locations in Slovenia (central Europe), each ...representing a serious threat to the nearby villages and traffic infrastructure and urging to be mitigated. The Macesnik landslide, triggered in 1989, and the Slano blato landslide, triggered in 2000, were the first two large landslides in Slovenia, where a combination of drainage and retaining works consisting of deep reinforced concrete (RC) shafts/wells was successfully used as a mitigation measure. This paper presents the field conditions and a brief history of the two landslides with emphasis on the design approach and method used for the stability analysis and the design of deep RC shafts/wells. In addition, the paper gives an insight into the problems associated with the execution of works and provides data about the behavior of the two landslides after drainage and retaining works were completed. The monitoring data show that the undertaken mitigation measures were efficient to improve the stability of both landslides and significantly reduce the risk.