Remote sensing of landslide-generated sediment plumes, Peace River, British Columbia

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dc.contributor.authorHughes, Katie E.
dc.contributor.authorWild, Amanda
dc.contributor.authorKwoll, Eva
dc.contributor.authorGeertsema, Marten
dc.contributor.authorPerry, Alexandra
dc.contributor.authorHarrison, K. Darcy
dc.date.accessioned2022-11-18T00:46:58Z
dc.date.available2022-11-18T00:46:58Z
dc.date.copyright2021en_US
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractQuantifying the contribution of sediment delivered to rivers by landslides is needed to assess a river’s sediment load in regions prone to mass wasting. Monitoring such events, however, remains difficult. This study utilised six years of remotely sensed imagery (PlanetScope and RapidEye, Imagery courtesy of Planet Labs, Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA), topographic surveys, and field observation to examine a hydro-geologically controlled, retrogressive landslide near a tributary to the Peace River, British Columbia. The slide has been active since 2014, delivering large amounts of sediment to the Peace River, visible in a persistent plume. Here, we quantify the landslide’s sediment contribution to the Peace River, assess the hydro-meteorological drivers of plume variability, and test whether plume activity can be directly linked to landslide activity for monitoring purposes. Our results show that the landslide on average delivered 165,000 tonnes of sediment per year, a seven-fold increase of the tributary’s regular load and near half of the Peace River’s load at this location. Due to continuous erosion of landslide material, sediment supply is steady and fuelled by repeated failures. Using thresholding, the identification of ‘high’ plume activity was possible, which positively correlated with the water level in a nearby reservoir, a proxy for the state of groundwater in this region. We reason that ‘high’ plume activity is linked to increased groundwater pressure because landslide activity is groundwater-controlled and failures fuel sediment delivery to the Peace River. Using readily available imagery, it is thus possible to monitor the activity of this recurrent landslide when field data are difficult to obtain.en_US
dc.description.reviewstatusRevieweden_US
dc.description.scholarlevelFacultyen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipFunding was provided to E.K. and M.G. via FLNRO-RD research funds.en_US
dc.identifier.citationHughes, K. E., Wild, A., Kwoll, E., Geertsema, M., Perry, A., & Harrison, K. D. (2021). “Remote sensing of landslide-generated sediment plumes, Peace River, British Columbia.” Remote Sensing, 13(23), 4901. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13234901en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3390/rs13234901
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/14489
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherRemote Sensingen_US
dc.subjectlandslide monitoring
dc.subjectplume detection
dc.subjectPlanetScope
dc.subjectRapidEye
dc.subjectsuspended sediment
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Geography
dc.titleRemote sensing of landslide-generated sediment plumes, Peace River, British Columbiaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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