Articles | Volume 21, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-4525-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-4525-2017
Research article
 | 
12 Sep 2017
Research article |  | 12 Sep 2017

Impact of rainfall spatial aggregation on the identification of debris flow occurrence thresholds

Francesco Marra, Elisa Destro, Efthymios I. Nikolopoulos, Davide Zoccatelli, Jean Dominique Creutin, Fausto Guzzetti, and Marco Borga

Related authors

Assessing inter-model agreement in convection-permitting simulations of extreme winds for wind energy applications
Nathalia Correa-Sánchez, Xiaoli Guo Larsén, Eleonora Dallan, Marco Borga, and Francesco Marra
Wind Energ. Sci., 11, 2961–2985, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-2961-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-2961-2026, 2026
Short summary
Technical note: Temperature dependence of precipitation tail heaviness in the TENAX model
Ella Thomas, Petr Vohnicky, Marco Borga, Nadav Peleg, and Francesco Marra
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 4957–4967, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4957-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4957-2026, 2026
Short summary
Scale-dependent biases in Alpine sub-daily areal precipitation extremes: added value of convection permitting models
Rashid Akbary, Eleonora Dallan, Paul C. Astagneau, Raul R. Wood, Francesco Marra, Manuela I. Brunner, and Marco Borga
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 4117–4139, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4117-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4117-2026, 2026
Short summary
Radar-Derived Intensity-Duration-Area-Frequency Relations for Assessing Hydrological Hazards in Complex Terrain
Talia Rosin, Francesco Marra, Marco Gabella, Urs Germann, Daniel Wolfensberger, and Efrat Morin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1800,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1800, 2026
Short summary
Brief communication: Threshold and probability. The conceptual difference between ID thresholds for landslide initiation and IDF curves
Francesco Marra, Eleonora Dallan, Marco Borga, Roberto Greco, and Thom Bogaard
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5055–5061, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-5055-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-5055-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Abancó, C., Hürlimann, M., Moya, J., and Berenguer, M.: Critical Rainfall Conditions for the Initiation of Torrential Flows, Results from the Rebaixader Catchment (Central Pyrenees), J. Hydrol., 541, 218–229, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.01.019, 2016.
Badoux, A., Andres, N., Techel, F., and Hegg, C.: Natural Hazard Fatalities in Switzerland from 1946 to 2015, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2747–2768, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-16-2747-2016, 2016.
Borga M., Stoffel, M., Marchi, L., Marra, F., and Jacob, M.: Hydrogeomorphic response to extreme rainfall in headwater systems: flash floods and debris flows, J. Hydrol., 518, 194–205, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.05.022, 2014.
Brunetti, M. T., Peruccacci, S., Rossi, M., Luciani, S., Valigi, D., and Guzzetti, F.: Rainfall thresholds for the possible occurrence of landslides in Italy, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 10, 447–458, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-10-447-2010, 2010.
Caine, N.: The rainfall intensity-duration control of shallow landslides and debris flows, Geogr. Ann. A., 62, 23–27, 1980.
Download
Short summary
Previous studies have reported a systematic underestimation of debris flow occurrence thresholds, due to the use of sparse networks in non-stationary rain fields. We analysed high-resolution radar data to show that spatially aggregated estimates (e.g. satellite data) largely reduce this issue, in light of a reduced estimation variance. Our findings are transferable to other situations in which lower envelope curves are used to predict point-like events in the presence of non-stationary fields.
Share