Performance of the debris flow alarm system ALMOND-F on the Rochefort Torrent (Val d’Aosta) on August 5, 2022

On August 5, 2022 in the Rochefort torrent (Val Ferret, Mont Blanc), a debris flow occurred that invaded the road connecting the valley with the village of Courmayeur. The debris flow interrupted the car traffic and damaged the bridge that crosses the torrent and the aqueduct that serves the municipality of Courmayeur. Due to the recurrence of similar events, in 2017 the Valle d’Aosta Region had decided to install a monitoring and warning system for debris flows, close to the bridge on the Rochefort torrent, to interrupt the traffic in both directions through a pair of traffic lights in case of debris flow. The system, named ALMOND-F (ALarm and MONitoring system for Debris-Flow), has been installed along the torrent, few tens of meters upstream of the bridge. ALMOND-F adopts a warning algorithm that is based on the variation of the seismic signal intensity produced by debris flows and that had been thoroughly tested in previous years in the instrumented area of the Gadria basin. On August 5, 2022 the warning system activated the traffic lights and stopped the traffic about three minutes before the debris flow invaded the road. It is the first time that the ALMOND-F system is utilized in a real risk situation to protect the population, after some years of controlled tests carried out in an instrumented area. Even though this represents an undoubted technological success, the installation of ALMOND-F requires several issues to be addressed to grant the highest level of safety. For instance, the presence of other active debris-flow channels and/or natural risks in the same valley may represent a limitation to the installation of a site-specific alarm system. The installation of the Rochefort torrent, opportunely optimized also on the basis of the feedbacks of the August 5, 2022 debris flow event, could become a useful case study and so provide indications and suggestions on the mitigation of the debris flow risk through the use of warning systems

Systems and Sensors for Debris-flow Monitoring and Warning

Debris flows are a type of mass movement that occurs in mountain torrents. They consist of a high concentration of solid material in water that flows as a wave with a steep front. Debris flows can be considered a phenomenon intermediate between landslides and water floods. They are amongst the most hazardous natural processes in mountainous regions and may occur under different climatic conditions. Their destructiveness is due to different factors: their capability of transporting and depositing huge amounts of solid materials, which may also reach large sizes (boulders of several cubic meters are commonly transported by debris flows), their steep fronts, which may reach several meters of height and also their high velocities. The implementation of both structural and nonstructural control measures is often required when debris flows endanger routes, urban areas and other infrastructures. Sensor networks for debris-flow monitoring and warning play an important role amongst non-structural measures intended to reduce debris-flow risk. In particular, debris flow warning systems can be subdivided into two main classes: advance warning and event warning systems. These two classes employ different types of sensors. Advance warning systems are based on monitoring causative hydrometeorological processes (typically rainfall) and aim to issue a warning before a possible debris flow is triggered. Event warning systems are based on detecting debris flows when these processes are in progress. They have a much smaller lead time than advance warning ones but are also less prone to false alarms. Advance warning for debris flows employs sensors and techniques typical of meteorology and hydrology, including measuring rainfall by means of rain gauges and weather radar and monitoring water discharge in headwater streams. Event warning systems use different types of sensors, encompassing ultrasonic or radar gauges, ground vibration sensors, videocameras, avalanche pendulums, photocells, trip wires etc. Event warning systems for debris flows have a strong linkage with debris-flow monitoring that is carried out for research purposes: the same sensors are often used for both monitoring and warning, although warning systems have higher requirements of robustness than monitoring systems. The paper presents a description of the sensors employed for debris-flow monitoring and event warning systems, with attention given to advantages and drawbacks of different types of sensors

The ethical duty to divulge geosciences and the improvement of communication skills to fufil it

In recent years the commitment to disseminate the geological knowledge, making it available for citizens and decisionmakers, has been recognized as a precise ethical duty of the geologist. However the fulfilment of the duty to disseminate the geoscience knowledge requires good communication skills that should be adequately trained, since often the university studies don’t include such training. A specific research has been carried out to explore the possibility to develop a short training course capable of improving the expressive and communication abilities of professionals. A set of exercises has been also expressly developed to improve the metacognitive skills of the participants (metacognition is the knowledge and regulation of one’s cognitive activities in learning processes). The course has been delivered to professionals belonging to the Professional Association of Engineers (FOIT) in Turin, Italy, and has been able to significantly improve their expressive and communication abilities, increasing their interest and willingness to divulge their knowledge, recovering their confidence to succeed in this task and helping them to become more effective communicators. The contents of the course are now available, upon request, for anyone interested in teaching it elsewhere and/or improving its contents. Providing both professional and research geologists with means to renew their interest and ability to communicate can be a useful contribution to raise their (geo)ethical conscience and to help them to more easily carry out their ethical commitment.Published97-1031TM. Formazione2TM. Divulgazione Scientifica3TM. ComunicazioneJCR Journa

Performance of the debris flow alarm system ALMOND-F on the Rochefort Torrent (Val d’Aosta) on August 5, 2022

On August 5, 2022 in the Rochefort torrent (Val Ferret, Mont Blanc), a debris flow occurred that invaded the road connecting the valley with the village of Courmayeur. The debris flow interrupted the car traffic and damaged the bridge that crosses the torrent and the aqueduct that serves the municipality of Courmayeur. Due to the recurrence of similar events, in 2017 the Valle d’Aosta Region had decided to install a monitoring and warning system for debris flows, close to the bridge on the Rochefort torrent, to interrupt the traffic in both directions through a pair of traffic lights in case of debris flow. The system, named ALMOND-F (ALarm and MONitoring system for Debris-Flow), has been installed along the torrent, few tens of meters upstream of the bridge. ALMOND-F adopts a warning algorithm that is based on the variation of the seismic signal intensity produced by debris flows and that had been thoroughly tested in previous years in the instrumented area of the Gadria basin. On August 5, 2022 the warning system activated the traffic lights and stopped the traffic about three minutes before the debris flow invaded the road. It is the first time that the ALMOND-F system is utilized in a real risk situation to protect the population, after some years of controlled tests carried out in an instrumented area. Even though this represents an undoubted technological success, the installation of ALMOND-F requires several issues to be addressed to grant the highest level of safety. For instance, the presence of other active debris-flow channels and/or natural risks in the same valley may represent a limitation to the installation of a site-specific alarm system. The installation of the Rochefort torrent, opportunely optimized also on the basis of the feedbacks of the August 5, 2022 debris flow event, could become a useful case study and so provide indications and suggestions on the mitigation of the debris flow risk through the use of warning systems