Landslides cause thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damage worldwide every year. Through a partnership with NASA, a robust new tool to identify, track and respond to rainfall triggered landslides is now available to all users of the free Pacific Disaster Center’s (PDC) DisasterAWARE software. PDC is an applied research center managed by the University of Hawaiʻi.
After years of development and testing, NASA’s Landslide Hazard Assessment for Situational Awareness model (LHASA) has been integrated into the PDC’s multi-hazard monitoring, alerting and decision-support platform. LHASA uses a machine learning model that combines data on ground slope, soil moisture, snow, geological conditions, distance to faults and the latest near real-time precipitation data. The model has been trained on a database of historical landslides and the conditions surrounding them, allowing it to recognize patterns that indicate a landslide is likely.
The result is a landslide map showing the potential of rainfall-triggered landslides occurring for any given region within the past day. This map of hazard likelihood can help agencies and officials rapidly assess areas where the current landslide risk is high. It can also give disaster response teams critical information on where a landslide may have occurred so they can investigate and deploy life-saving resources.
“The close pairing of our organizations and use of PDC’s DisasterAWARE platform for early warning has been a special recipe for success in getting life-saving information into the hands of decision makers and communities around the world,” said Chris Chiesa, PDC deputy executive director.
Early warning system
Developing countries often bear disproportionate losses due to lack of access to hazard early warning systems and other resources for effective risk reduction and recovery. Reports from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction emphasize that early warning systems and early action are among the most effective ways to decrease disaster-related deaths and losses.
“Some local authorities develop their own systems to monitor landslide risk, but there isn’t a global model that works in the same way. That’s what defines LHASA: it works all the time, and it covers most regions of the world,” said Robert Emberson, NASA Disasters associate program manager and a key member of the NASA landslides team.“Thanks to our collaboration with the Pacific Disaster Center, this powerful landslide technology is now even more accessible for the communities that need it most.”
Thanks to our collaboration with the Pacific Disaster Center, this powerful landslide technology is now even more accessible for the communities that need it most.
—Robert Emberson, NASA Disasters associate program manager
The PDC’s flagship DisasterAWARE software provides early warnings and risk assessment tools for 19 types of natural hazards and supports decision-making by a wide range of disaster management agencies, local governments and humanitarian organizations. Prominent users include the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Food Programme. Individual users of the DisasterAWARE mobile app can also get regional hazard alerts pushed to them.
UH President David Lassner said, “The University of Hawaiʻi Pacific Disaster Center and NASA share the goal of reducing harm from disasters throughout the world through innovative uses of science and technology. We are proud to be a part of this live-saving partnership.”
Regional risk reports
DisasterAWARE also creates comprehensive regional risk reports that estimate the number of people and infrastructure exposed to a disaster—focusing on such things as bridges, roads and hospitals that could complicate relief efforts when damaged. This information is critical for allowing decision makers to effectively deploy resources to the areas that need them most. Chiesa said that teams in El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic have already begun using these new capabilities to assess landslide hazards during the 2023 rainy season.
“The LHASA model is all open-source and leverages publicly available data from NASA and partners,” said Dalia Kirschbaum, lead of the NASA landslides team and director of Earth Sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “This enables other researchers and disaster response communities to adapt the framework to regional or local applications and further awareness at scales relevant to their decision-making needs.”
Kirschbaum and her team were awarded the NASA Software of the Year award for their work developing LHASA.
This effort between NASA and PDC builds upon a history of fruitful cooperation between the organizations. In 2022, they deployed a NASA global flood modeling tool to enhance DisasterAWARE’s flood early warning capabilities. They have also shared data and expertise during multiple disasters, including Hurricane Iota in 2020, the 2021 earthquake in Haiti and the devastating August 2023 wildfires in Maui, PDC’s base of operations.
