Authors’ description:
Landslides are a natural disaster with the highest prevalence around the world. Climate change, population increase and industrial development has led to rising trend of landslide frequency and pose hazard to people. Currently, we prevent landslides only with massive dam constructions. To reduce losses caused by landslides, an early warning system is needed. According to historical data of landslides, rainfall is the main trigger for landslides, reasoning the high pressure on some parts of the slopes. The pressure created by humidity of the soil increases its weight and pores. The soil becomes unstable and provokes the ground movement. The change of water content in the soil account for the difference in soil properties, reducing soil strength and lightening the pressure.
Annually, 4700 people are killed in 406 distinct landslide events worldwide. Globally, landslides cause over 8 billion euros in economical damage towards the cost in the industrialized countries of the world. The high rate of rainfall is the main trigger factor in most cases of landslides. The increase of soil water content lead to the rise of the pore pressure and soil weight which causes the slope failure.
The project proposes the alternative to massive dam structures by using drones with:
– solar PU panels;
– soil moisture sensors and microcontroller for data processing;
– dehumidifying retractable wires to change the soil condition and prevent landslides.
Early warning systems of landslide monitors the changes of soil condition.
A grid is applied onto a mountain topography, dividing the area into the equally spaced regions. Each region has a station that serves as a power supply and a resting place for the drones. The curved surface allows to place the larger quantity of them. While they are scattered on the surface of the station, serve as a power collector delivering the collected energy to a core. There are hundred drones on each station and they fly over their specified region (5km radius) to investigate the soil condition every week, using the sensors that are calibrated with the gravimetric method. Drones have retractable wires that inject into the areas of soil (where humidity exceeds the normal level) and emit strong electrical and magnetical waves that cause molecules in the soil to oscillate. This acts as a catalyst to speed up the natural evaporation process in the soil and prevents the creation of the pressured moments in the slopes, which is the most common reason of landslides.
The project proposes an alternative to the classical massive dam structures, claiming that the soil condition should be investigated periodically, using the technology and reacting to the nature’s force majeurs beforehand.