Landslides and Geophysical Investigations: Advantages and Limitations (Editorial) (original) (raw)

Geohazards processes can damage or increase the risk of human beings, properties, critical infrastructures, and environment itself. ey also could involve the interruption of human activities with serious socioeconomic consequences. Among all the natural occurrences, landslides are regarded as one of the most destructive types of geohazards. Landslides are a type of "mass wasting," which denotes any down-slope movement of soil and rock under the direct influence of gravity, which can occur and develop in a large variety of volumes and shapes. Even though the catastrophic impact of landslides is not totally unavoidable, it can be significantly reduced by increasing the capacity to assess and predict the risks and using different mitigation methods. In the past decades, many D and D numerical modelling methods have been designed and developed to assess slope stability, to predict slope response to various triggers, to evaluate the slope deformation and evolution pattern, and to perform back-analysis simulations. Nevertheless, such models still require access to detailed knowledge of the geological, mechanical, and hydrological properties of landslides and boundary conditions. erefore, accurate geological field surveys have to be integrated by means of low-cost and noninvasive techniques, like the geophysical ones, to collect widespread data with the aim of reconstructing a suitable geological and hydrogeological model of the area, improving the reliability of deterministic model. is special issue is dedicated to the geophysical methods applied to investigate, characterize, and monitor landslides. Over the years, both the advantages and limitations of these techniques have been highlighted, and some drawbacks are still open. Some papers were submitted to this special issue, and, aer a thorough peer review process, only five articles were selected to be included in this special issue. is relatively small number is probably caused by the difficulty in applying geophysical techniques on slope movements given hard-operating conditions (e.g., high slopes, distance from access roads, and lack of security for the technical operator) and not because the methods limitations are greater than the advantages. e review carried out by V. Pazzi et al. on geophysical techniques applied in landslides studies analyses the international efforts toward overcoming the geophysical technique limitations highlighted by the geophysics and landslide review, focusing on works of the last twelve years (-). e authors carried out the review analysis using a "material landslide approach" on the basis of the more recent landslides classification. e most studied landslides are those of the flow type for "soil" landslide typology and those of the fall type for the "rock" category. From the "employed method" point of view, active and passive seismic methods are the most employed in landslide characterization and monitoring. To quantify the efforts performed to overcome the limitations highlighted in , a three-level scale was employed (from many/some efforts to non-discussed). e limits inherent in each technique and the need to still develop multisource data integration methods were clear; very oen