Successful testing of landslide forecasting system

NEC Corporation, a Japanese information and communications technology (ICT) provider, announced that it has successfully tested a system to identify areas at risk of landslides. The test was conducted in cooperation with Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center.

NEC's landslide prediction system is tested in Chiang Mai. Photo: NEC

The landslide prediction system that NEC is testing in Thailand is part of the Group's integrated risk management system. The test is in support of a disaster prevention cooperation project between Thailand and Japan.

Before setting up the test system, NEC and the National Disaster Warning Center of Thailand conducted verification experiments with the flood simulation system in Uttaradit, a province in northern Thailand, for four months, from November 2015 to March 2016.

They then validated the effectiveness of the landslide prediction system with a pilot study in Chiang Mai province from November 2016 to March 2017.

The system has functions such as data integration, prediction and early warning, and specialized disaster forecasting components for specific disasters such as landslides, floods and earthquakes.

The system performs simulations based on meteorological data (observed and forecasted rainfall), topographic data (elevation, land use) and soil data (soil depth, hydraulic conductivity, porosity, cohesion), allowing to predict the severity of landslides.

Recently, NEC Corporation and the National Disaster Warning Center of Thailand officially announced that the landslide forecasting system has been successfully tested.

Specifically, the system can perform detailed simulations and provide hourly baseline forecasts seven days in advance. This allows Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center to issue warnings to threatened areas before landslides occur, helping to reduce potential damage.

Even in non-disaster periods, the system can identify areas at risk of landslides by running simulations using previous rainfall data, allowing for hazard mapping.

Landslides caused by heavy rains are a common occurrence in Thailand, causing significant loss of life, property and damage to transport networks. Investing in measures to mitigate these types of incidents is therefore a priority for the Thai Government.

According to Chinhphu.vn