Multi-technique approach to rockfall monitoring in the Montserrat massif (Catalonia, NE Spain)

Montserrat Mountain is located near Barcelona in Catalonia, in the northeast of Spain, and its massif is formed by conglomerate interleaved by siltstone/sandstone with steep slopes very prone to rockfalls. The increasing number of visitors in the monastery area, reaching 2.4 million per year, has highlighted the risk derived from rockfalls for this building area and also for the terrestrial accesses, both roads and the rack railway. A risk mitigation plan has been launched, and its first phase during 2014-2016 has been focused largely on testing several monitoring techniques for their later implementation. The results of the pilot tests, performed as a development from previous sparse experiences and data, are presented together with the first insights obtained. These tests combine four monitoring techniques under different conditions of continuity in space and time domains, which are: displacement monitoring with Ground-based Synthetic Aperture Radar and characterization at slope scale, with an extremely non-uniform atmospheric phase screen due to the stepped topography and atmosphere stratification; Terrestrial Laser Scanner surveys quantifying the frequency of small or even previously unnoticed rockfalls, and monitoring rock block centimetre scale displacements; the monitoring of rock joints implemented through a wireless sensor network with an ad hoc design of ZigBee loggers developed by ICGC; and, finally, monitoring singular rock needles with Total Station.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

¿Cuánto grande es 'grande' en los movimientos de ladera? Encuesta sobre la idea de magnitud y su comunicación

La idea de magnitud de un fenómeno de ladera parece muy evidente, pero sometida a análisis no resulta tan simple. Además, carecemos de una escala de referencia para su valoración cualitativa. Esta indefinición en la magnitud se traslada al concepto de peligrosidad, lo cual dificulta la comunicación, incluso entre técnicos, y más aun con públicos más amplios, quienes resultan imprescindibles aliados para la implementación efectiva de estrategias de mitigación del riesgo. Esta preocupación por la comunicación de la idea de peligrosidad ha orientado en todo momento la elaboración de la guía técnica para la elaboración de Estudios de Identificación de Riesgos Geológicos (EIRG) por parte del ICGC. Esta figura resulta una pieza clave para la consideración de los riesgos geológicos en el urbanismo en Cataluña y hacer efectivo el mandato legislativo en la materia. A raíz de estos trabajos se ha desarrollado una escala de magnitud que pretende ser de la máxima simplicidad y claridad para lograr una comunicación adecuada del riesgo. En esta comunicación pretendemos realizar un test de viabilidad de la escala mediante una encuesta participativa a las personas participantes al simposio.Postprint (published version

Multi-technique approach to rockfall monitoring in the Montserrat massif (Catalonia, NE Spain)

Montserrat Mountain is located near Barcelona in Catalonia, in the northeast of Spain, and its massif is formed by conglomerate interleaved by siltstone/sandstone with steep slopes very prone to rockfalls. The increasing number of visitors in the monastery area, reaching 2.4 million per year, has highlighted the risk derived from rockfalls for this building area and also for the terrestrial accesses, both roads and the rack railway. A risk mitigation plan has been launched, and its first phase during 2014-2016 has been focused largely on testing several monitoring techniques for their later implementation. The results of the pilot tests, performed as a development from previous sparse experiences and data, are presented together with the first insights obtained. These tests combine four monitoring techniques under different conditions of continuity in space and time domains, which are: displacement monitoring with Ground-based Synthetic Aperture Radar and characterization at slope scale, with an extremely non-uniform atmospheric phase screen due to the stepped topography and atmosphere stratification; Terrestrial Laser Scanner surveys quantifying the frequency of small or even previously unnoticed rockfalls, and monitoring rock block centimetre scale displacements; the monitoring of rock joints implemented through a wireless sensor network with an ad hoc design of ZigBee loggers developed by ICGC; and, finally, monitoring singular rock needles with Total Station

Mompa project: actuation protocols based on satellite radar interferometry (INSAR) monitoring

[EN] The objective of the POCTEFA - MOMPA project (Monitoring of Ground Movements and Action Protocol) is to provide a useful technical-operational tool for the prevention and management of risks due to slope movements, at a cross-border level, based on the satellite monitoring technique InSAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar Inteferometry). The tool includes two main elements: the risk evaluation, and the integration of the technique in an action protocol for the administrations in charge of Civil Protection. The study area covers around 4,000 km2 and includes a part of the eastern Pyrenees, including the countries of Spain, France, and Andorra. The project deals with risk assessment based on the ground displacement map at an interregional scale and on the detected Active Deformation Areas (ADA), to select movements with potential risk where it will then focus on an analysis at a local scale using traditional methods (photo interpretation and field work). Both the free medium-resolution data, acquired by the Sentinel-1 satellite, as well as the high-resolution data acquired by COSMO-SkyMed are used. In addition, the project focuses on the landslide event of “la Portalada” (in Andorra) that occurred in 2019. Today the slope shows a slow movement that could affect a main road located at the bottom of the valley. The Government of Andorra is implementing measures to monitor and characterize the current movement of the slope. Therefore, nine artificial reflectors were installed along this forested slope. The data obtained will be integrated into the risk prevention protocol. Here, the project and the first results obtained through satellite interferometry are presented.[ES] El objetivo del proyecto POCTEFA - MOMPA (MOnitorización de Movimientos del terreno y Protocolo de Actuación) es proporcionar una herramienta técnico-operativa útil para la prevención y la gestión de los riesgos ocasionados por movimientos de ladera, a nivel transfronterizo, basada en la técnica de seguimiento satelital InSAR. (Interferometría Radar a Apertura Sintética) La herramienta incluye dos elementos principales: la evaluación del riesgo; y la integración de la técnica en un protocolo de actuación para las administraciones encargadas de la Protección Civil. El área de estudio cubre alrededor de 4.000 km2 e incluye una parte de los Pirineos orientales, incluyendo los países España, Francia y Andorra. El proyecto trata la evaluación de riesgos a partir del mapa de movimientos del terreno a escala interregional y de las Áreas de Deformación Activa (ADA), para seleccionar movimientos con riesgo potencial donde luego se enfocará en un análisis a escala local mediante el uso de métodos tradicionales (básicamente fotointerpretación y trabajo de campo). Se utilizan tanto los datos libres y gratuitos de resolución media, adquiridos por el satélite Sentinel-1, como los datos de alta resolución adquiridos por COSMO-SkyMed. Además, el proyecto centra su atención en el caso particular del deslizamiento de “la Portalada” (Andorra) ocurrido en 2019. En la actualidad, la ladera presenta un movimiento lento que podría afectar el eje principal de comunicación entre Andorra y España ubicado en el fondo del valle. El Gobierno de Andorra está implementando medidas para monitorear y caracterizar el movimiento actual de la ladera. Por tanto, nueve reflectores artificiales se instalaron a lo largo de esta ladera ocupada por un bosque. Los datos obtenidos se integrarán en el protocolo de prevención de riesgos. En este trabajo se presentan el proyecto y los primeros resultados obtenidos mediante interferometría satelital.Este trabajo ha sido co-financiado por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (“European Regional Development Fund”) a través de Interreg V-A España, Francia y Andorra (POCTEFA 2014-2020), proyecto EFA295/19. En el caso de la Portalada, los autores agradecen a la administración local de La Portalada, el Comú de Sant Julià de Lòria, por permitir la implementación de los reflectores, y al Ministerio de Ordenación Territorial del Gobierno de Andorra por facilitar su gestión. La obra de implementación de los reflectores fue contratada a la empresa INACCÉS.Barra, A.; Colell, X.; Echeverria, A.; Trapero, L.; Marturia, J.; Fabregat, I.; Gao, Q.... (2021). El proyecto Mompa: protocolos de actuación basados en el monitoreo mediante interferometría satelital radar (INSAR). En Proceedings 3rd Congress in Geomatics Engineering. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 118-126. https://doi.org/10.4995/CiGeo2021.2021.12709OCS11812

Impacts of Use and Abuse of Nature in Catalonia with Proposals for Sustainable Management

This paper provides an overview of the last 40 years of use, and in many cases abuse, of the natural resources in Catalonia, a country that is representative of European countries in general, and especially those in the Mediterranean region. It analyses the use of natural resources made by mining, agriculture, livestock, logging, fishing, nature tourism, and energy production and consumption. This use results in an ecological footprint, i.e., the productive land and sea surface required to generate the consumed resources and absorb the resulting waste, which is about seven times the amount available, a very high number but very similar to other European countries. This overexploitation of natural resources has a huge impact on land and its different forms of cover, air, and water. For the last 25 years, forests and urban areas have each gained almost 3% more of the territory at the expense of agricultural land; those municipalities bordering the sea have increased their number of inhabitants and activity, and although they only occupy 6.7% of the total surface area, they account for 43.3% of the population; air quality has stabilized since the turn of the century, and there has been some improvement in the state of aquatic ecosystems, but still only 36% are in good condition, while the remainder have suffered morphological changes and different forms of nonpoint source pollution; meanwhile the biodiversity of flora and fauna remains still under threat. Environmental policies do not go far enough so there is a need for revision of the legislation related to environmental impact and the protection of natural areas, flora, and fauna. The promotion of environmental research must be accompanied by environmental education to foster a society which is Land 2021, 10, 144 3 of 53 more knowledgeable, has more control and influence over the decisions that deeply affect it. Indeed, nature conservation goes hand in hand with other social and economic challenges that require a more sustainable vision. Today’s problems with nature derive from the current economic model, which is environmentally unsustainable in that it does not take into account environmental impacts. Lastly, we propose a series of reasonable and feasible priority measures and actions related to each use made of the country’s natural resources, to the impacts they have had, and to their management, in the hope that these can contribute to improving the conservation and management of the environment and biodiversity and move towards sustainability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Landslide databases in the Geological Surveys of Europe

Acceso electrónico sólo desde el IGMELandslides are one of the most widespread geohazards in Europe, producing significant social and economic impacts. Rapid population growth in urban areas throughout many countries in Europe and extreme climatic scenarios can considerably increase landslide risk in the near future. Variability exists between European countries in both the statutory treatment of landslide risk and the use of official assessment guidelines. This suggests that a European Landslides Directive that provides a common legal framework for dealing with landslides is necessary. With this long-term goal in mind, this work analyzes the landslide databases from the Geological Surveys of Europe focusing on their interoperability and completeness. The same landslide classification could be used for the 849,543 landslide records from the Geological Surveys, from which 36% are slides, 10% are falls, 20% are flows, 11% are complex slides, and 24% either remain unclassified or correspond to another typology. Most of them are mapped with the same symbol at a scale of 1:25,000 or greater, providing the necessary information to elaborate European-scale susceptibility maps for each landslide type. A landslide density map was produced for the available records from the Geological Surveys (LANDEN map) showing, for the first time, 210,544 km2 landslide-prone areas and 23,681 administrative areas where the Geological Surveys from Europe have recorded landslides. The comparison of this map with the European landslide susceptibility map (ELSUS 1000 v1) is successful for most of the territory (69.7%) showing certain variability between countries. This comparison also permitted the identification of 0.98 Mkm2 (28.9%) of landslide-susceptible areas without records from the Geological Surveys, which have been used to evaluate the landslide database completeness. The estimated completeness of the landslide databases (LDBs) from the Geological Surveys is 17%, varying between 1 and 55%. This variability is due to the different landslide strategies adopted by each country. In some of them, landslide mapping is systematic; others only record damaging landslides, whereas in others, landslide maps are only available for certain regions or local areas. Moreover, in most of the countries, LDBs from the Geological Surveys co-exist with others owned by a variety of public institutions producing LDBs at variable scales and formats. Hence, a greater coordination effort should be made by all the institutions working in landslide mapping to increase data integration and harmonization.Earth Observation and Geohazards Expert Group (EOEG), EuroGeoSurveys, the Geological Surveys of Europe, BélgicaGeohazards InSAR Laboratory and Modeling Group, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaRisk and Prevention Division, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, FranciaEngineering Geology Department, Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, GreciaGeoHazard team, Geological Institute of Romania, RumaníaGeological Survey of Slovenia, EsloveniaCroatian Geological Survey, CroaciaItalian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Geological Survey of Italy, ItaliaSwiss Federal Office for the Environment, SuizaGeological Survey of Austria, AustriaPolish Geological Institute, National Research Institute, PoloniaGeological Survey of Ireland, IrlandaCzech Geological Survey, República ChecaFederal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, AlemaniaGeological Survey of Norway, NoruegaCyprus Geological Survey, ChipreGeological Survey of Sweden, SueciaInstitut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya, EspañaBritish Geological Survey, Reino UnidoGeological Survey of Slovakia, EslovaquiaGeological Survey of Lithuania, LituaniaFederalni zavod za geologiju, Bosnia y HerzegovinaGeological Survey of Estonia, EstoniaLaboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia, PortugalGeological Survey of Hungary, HungríaNorwegian Water and energy Directorate of Norway, Norueg

Nota sobre la surgencia de Cinc-Claus, l'Escala

Sobre la surgència d'aigua entre materials calcaris a la població de Cinc Claus (L' Escala

Contribución al conocimiento de la Font d'en Pi

Descripció des d'un punt de vista geològic d'una font subterrània descoberta en construir-se la nova variant de la carretera de Sant Feliu de Guíxols a Girona l'any 1972, entre els punts quilomètrics 31 i 3

Las fuentes naturales del término municipal de Sant Feliu de Guíxols (Girona)

The behaviour of 21 natural springs in a granític massif is studied in this survey. Geomorphological features of the zone are described as well as water circulation and rising 25 parametres of each of them are analysed ans conclusions are withdrawn regarding geological conditions of rising, course, chemism and potabilitySe estudia en el presente trabajo el comportamiento en un macizo granítico y de 21 fuentes naturales. Se describen las características geomorfológicas de la zona así como la circulaciòn y emergencia de las aguas. Se analizan 25 parámetros de cada una de ellas y se sacan conclusiones en orden a las condiciones geológicas de manación, recorrido, quimismo y potabilida