sOCIETY
rock. After that, they map any landslide risks.
In recent years, China has made significant progress in landslide
forecasting and warning, thanks to development in diverse fields in-
cluding remote sensing and geomechanics.
In the late 20th century, scientists from the Institute of Mountain
Hazards and Environment, under the China Academy of Sciences,
undertook a surveying and landslide prevention assignment in the
Gama Valley along the G318 national highway in the Tibet Auton-
omous Region, built in the 1950s. Their work included designing
drainage ditches along the slopes above the highway, as well as build-
ing anti-subsidence pilings and barricades on the slope downhill from
the highway. Their efforts meant there were no subsequent slides or
deformation of the hillside in the area, near Mount Everest.
According to Liu, China should focus its efforts on improving the
precision of monitoring. Based on the achievements so far, research
and investigation that has relied more on human fieldwork to date
should be shifted to new remote sensing technology.
New technologies including information technology, satellite tech-
nology, big data and artificial intelligence have been adopted widely
across the whole field of geological disaster research, as Liu Chun sees
it. To be more specific, he said, the processing and application of satel-
lite data could be done by AI technology with greater precision, and
the overall analysis of big data can take into account the various fac-
tors that contribute to landslides.
Liu Chun has also attempted to get data quickly through using
small, unmanned aerial vehicles. A drone was sent to the site of
Maoxian’s landslide location immediately after the disaster.
Across China, all landslides are entered into a national geographic
information system (GIS) database. The system’s capabilities in spacial
analysis and visualisation have meant that further research and devel-
opment of GIS has become the major direction for landslide research
in China.
Transferring scientists’ research findings into simpler forms for the
general public to adopt is what really matters for landslide prevention
and management. “Effective disaster prevention is not just about the
efforts of scientists and researchers, instead the goal can be achieved
through collective effort,” Liu Chun concluded, explaining that de-
spite the progress being made in technology, there is no single tech-
nology that offers a cure-all. “Just like the advances of modern medi-
cal technology doesn’t mean human beings are free from all sickness,”
said Liu.Houses near the landslide, Maoxian, Sichuan, June 24, 2017
A rescuer at the site of the landslide, June 25, 2017
Photo by cns/vcgPhoto by VCG