A critical review of landslide monitoring experiences

Over the past few years, the monitoring of natural phenomena has acquired g reat importance for the scientific community. It aims to understand the mec hanisms of disruptive processes, define adequate prevention measures for th e mitigation of their effects and reduce the loss of human lives and assets . In order to detect the stability conditions of slopes belonging to differ ent geological and environmental contexts, geotechnical investigations have been carried out since 1982. The various types of landslides to be investi gated, and the diverse socio-economic contexts involved, have shown the nee d for constant surveillance, using the most up-to-date technology available . For this purpose, automatic recording systems connected to different sens ors have been installed, (and also serve civil defence purposes). During th is research activity, several problems arose, and several solutions had to be found. In this paper, some of the main problems concerning the installat ion and management of monitoring equipment used for the study of three land slides will be discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.