Project: Automatic Mass Movement Monitoring with Distributed Acoustic Sensing.

My research objectives: Monitoring mass movements, such as rockfalls, landslides and debris flows, is crucial in alpine regions with high-risk mountainous environments prone to sudden occurrences. Through innovative machine learning algorithms applied to Distributed Acoustic Sensing data, the objective is to provide early warning signs of impending major collapses, enhancing risk management for communities situated near steep slopes.

Last News (Newsletter #5 - Fall/Winter 2024): 

Over the past few months, I have been analyzing the DAS data record in the Napf-Emmental, a pre-alpine region of Switzerland. In the context of a changing climate, the frequency and intensity of precipitation events are predicted to increase, increasing the likelihood of landslides. In particular, shallow landslides are ojen triggered when rainfall or snowmelt infiltrates the soil, causing a significant increase in water saturaVon and groundwater levels.

We conducted surface wave analysis techniques to gain an understanding of soil layer thickness and daily variaVon of shear wave velocity as a proxy for soil moisture. For surface wave inversion, although we don't have reindeer at our site, Emmental cows are also a good source of signals! During summer Vme, they always get enough Vitamin D. And we were able to get a clear subsurface structure! I also went to the Photonic Seismology conference in Vancouver in October. It was a really nice conference and I learned a lot about different applications of DAS and enjoyed the views of the Canadian harbor.