Gihong Kim

Debris flow in metropolitan area — 2011 Seoul debris flow

A large number of debris flows occurred simultaneously at around 8:30 to 8:50 a.m. on July 27, 2011, at the center of Seoul, Korea. This area is located in the southern part of Seoul and is a densely populated district. As a result of the debris flow event, 16 people were killed, 30 houses were buried, and 116 houses were damaged around Umyeon Mountain, a relatively small mountain with a height of 312.6 m. Since the debris flow event, field investigations on the initiation and transportation zones of debris flows have been carried out. Rainfall data were collected from the automatic weather stations (AWSs) which are operated by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Video files recorded by residents were also acquired and used to analyze the flow characteristics of the debris flow. Field investigation shows that about 40 debris flows occurred around Umyeon Mountain and most of the debris flows were initiated by small slope failures. The effects of the precipitation that triggered the debris flows were analyzed as well. A landslide hazard map which considers slope gradient and aspect, strength of soil, hazard record, rainfall conditions, and vegetation, was constructed and compared with the initiation zones of debris flows.

Volume estimation of small scale debris flows based on observations of topographic changes using airborne LiDAR DEMs

This paper describes a geographic information system (GIS)-based method for observing changes in topography caused by the initiation, transport, and deposition of debris flows using high-resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) digital elevation models (DEMs) obtained before and after the debris flow events. The paper also describes a method for estimating the volume of debris flows using the differences between the LiDAR DEMs. The relative and absolute positioning accuracies of the LiDAR DEMs were evaluated using a real-time precise global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning method. In addition, longitudinal and cross-sectional profiles of the study area were constructed to determine the topographic changes caused by the debris flows. The volume of the debris flows was estimated based on the difference between the LiDAR DEMs. The accuracies of the relative and absolute positioning of the two LiDAR DEMs were determined to be ±10 cm and ±11 cm RMSE, respectively, which demonstrates the efficiency of the method for determining topographic changes at an scale equivalent to that of field investigations. Based on the topographic changes, the volume of the debris flows in the study area was estimated to be 3747 m3, which is comparable with the volume estimated based on the data from field investigations.

Analysis of Erosion in Debris Flow Experiment Using Terrestrial LiDAR

Debris flows are rapidly flowing masses of water mixed with soil and gravel from landslides which are caused by typhoons or rainstorms. The combination of Korea’s mountain dominated topography (70%) and seasonal heavy rains and typhoons causes landslides and large-scale debris flows from June to August. These phenomena often cause property damage and casualties that amount up to 20% of total annual disaster fatalities. The key point to predicting debris flow is to understand its movement mechanism, erosion, and deposition. In order to achieve a more accurate estimation of debris flow path and damage, this study incorporates quantitative analysis of high resolution LiDAR DEM (GSD 10cm) to delineate geomorphic and topographic changes induced by Jinbu real scale debris flow test.

A new approach to tunnel image acquisition using a fisheye lens camera

In this study, an improved method of acquiring images of tunnels using a fisheye lens is presented. First, a forward image of the inside of a tunnel is obtained using a fisheye lens camera. A portion of this image is then transformed to a rectangular image using a coordinate transformation. To verify this proposed method, the technique was applied to images of an actual tunnel under construction. Although the transformed images obtained in this test were distorted, it is possible to improve the applicability of this method by correcting such distortions.