Capturing landslide dynamics and hydrologic triggers using near-real-time monitoring

Near-real-time monitoring of active landslides or landslide-prone hillslopes can provide immediate notification of landslide activity, as well as high-quality data sets for understanding the initiation and movement of landslides. Typical components of ground-based, near-real-time landslide monitoring systems include field sensors, data acquisition systems, remote telemetry, and software for base-station data processing and dissemination. For the last several decades, we have used these monitoring tools to investigate different landslide processes. Someof our field applications have determined the groundwater conditions controlling slowmoving landslides, detected 3-D displacements of large rockmasses, and characterized the transient near-surface hydrology triggering shallow landsliding.