Landslide Research Centre
In reaction of increasing damage by landsliding worldwide, and in view of the related knowledge deficits, in particular on the identification of landslides and their risk assessment, the Landslide Research Centre e.V. (FSR) at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, was founded in 1997. Research scientists and professionals in the fields of engineering geology, hydrogeology, geomorphology, geophysics and civil engineering joined their expertise with the objective of collecting available knowledge on landslides and slope movements, of making it accessible to the general public, and of developing effective solutions for the rehabilitation and stabilisation of landslides. Emphasis is on interdisciplinary applied research on damage reduction and risk abatement, related to services of public interest and environmental protection.
Further emphasis is on the qualitative and quantitative assessment of both the immediate and long-range effects of human interference on sloping terrain, such as changing agricultural and silvicultural land use, land consolidation, the construction of traffic lines and settlements, or changes of ground-water movement.
The Landslide Research Centre e.V. actively participates in and coordinates the solution of slope stability and erosion problems. It contributes the skills, expertise and technical know-how of its members to institutions working in those fields, and it advises and offers suggestions to administrative and legislative bodies as well as private persons.
In addition, interdisciplinary knowledge is transferred to lecturers, specialist seminars and field trips to interested participants.
Fields of Activity:
- Knowledge and technology transfer
- Basic and advanced education
- Supervision of diploma and Ph.D. theses
- Data mining and archiving
- Regional hazard and risk assessment:
- Landslide maps
- Hazard maps
- Risk maps
- Applied research:
- Causes of landsliding
- Kinematics and dynamics
- Methods of stabilisation and rehabilitation
- Measuring techniques
- The research-application interface
- Expert systems
- Information on environmentally relevant aspects of stability, design and recultivation of batters along traffic lines and slopes in open-cast mining at the planning, implementation and maintenance stage
- Speedy and on-time production of engineering-geology planning maps
- Information centre on methods of slope and batter