Presenters-0558: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:12, 6 January 2022

CSDMS 2022 Webinars

Towards Post-fire Debris Flow Inundation Hazard Assessments

Registration link: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqcO6srjgqHtIehlGPnuPtEfygGVUDWHVA

Katherine Barnhart
USGS, United States
krbarnhart@usgs.gov

Abstract
Hazard assessment for post-wildfire debris flows, which are common in the steep terrain of the western United States, has focused on the susceptibility of upstream basins to generate debris flows. However, reducing public exposure to this hazard also requires an assessment of hazards in downstream areas that might be inundated during debris flow runout. Debris flow runout models are widely available, but their application to hazard assessment for post-wildfire debris flows has not been extensively tested. I will discuss a study in which we apply three candidate debris flow runout models in the context of the 9 January 2018 Montecito event. We evaluate the relative importance of flow volume and flow material properties in successfully simulating the event. Additionally, I will describe an in-progress user needs assessment designed to understand how professional decision makers (e.g., county emergency managers, floodplain manager, and Burned Area Emergency Response team members) might use post-fire debris flow inundation hazard assessment information.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2021JF006245

Katy Barnhart is a Research Civil Engineer at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geologic Hazards Science Center. She received her B.S.E. (2008) in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University and her M.S. (2010) and Ph.D. (2015) in Geological Sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research uses numerical modeling to understand past and forecast future geomorphic change on a variety of timescales.

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Of interest for:

Terrestrial Working Group

Hydrology Focus Research Group

Critical Zone Focus Research Group

Human Dimensions Focus Research Group

River Network Modeling Initiative

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 |CSDMS meeting state=Colorado
 |CSDMS meeting email address=krbarnhart@usgs.gov
-|CSDMS meeting title presentation=Multi-Model Comparison of Computed Debris Flow Runout for the 9 January 2018 Montecito, California Post-Wildfire Event
+|CSDMS meeting title presentation=Towards Post-fire Debris Flow Inundation Hazard Assessments
 }}
 {{Presenters presentation
-|CSDMS meeting abstract presentation=Changes in soil properties after fire mean rain can more easily erode the surface and initiate debris flows—mixtures of water, soil, and rock that rapidly move from steep source areas to downstream regions. The combination of frequent fire, steep landscapes, dense population, and intense rain makes southern California prone to debris flows. The scientific community has established methods linking debris flow likelihood and volume to rainfall intensity and burned area characteristics. We presently lack a basis for understanding how flow volume, flow material properties, representation of flow physics, and site topography all combine to produce an inundation hazard. We begin to address this by using observations from the 9 January 2018 Montecito, California, debris flow event to test three candidate models for debris flow inundation. We found that all models can simulate the event and that the largest source of uncertainty in inundated area is the flow volume.
+|CSDMS meeting abstract presentation=Hazard assessment for post-wildfire debris flows, which are common in the steep terrain of the western United States, has focused on the susceptibility of upstream basins to generate debris flows. However, reducing public exposure to this hazard also requires an assessment of hazards in downstream areas that might be inundated during debris flow runout. Debris flow runout models are widely available, but their application to hazard assessment for post-wildfire debris flows has not been extensively tested. I will discuss a study in which we apply three candidate debris flow runout models in the context of the 9 January 2018 Montecito event. We evaluate the relative importance of flow volume and flow material properties in successfully simulating the event. Additionally, I will describe an in-progress user needs assessment designed to understand how professional decision makers (e.g., county emergency managers, floodplain manager, and Burned Area Emergency Response team members) might use post-fire debris flow inundation hazard assessment information.
 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2021JF006245
+Katy Barnhart is a Research Civil Engineer at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geologic Hazards Science Center. She received her B.S.E. (2008) in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University and her M.S. (2010) and Ph.D. (2015) in Geological Sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research uses numerical modeling to understand past and forecast future geomorphic change on a variety of timescales.
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 |CSDMS meeting participants=0