May 24, 2019, by Cora Siebert

To aid in predicting landslide risk for the landslide warning system, Professor Josh Roering is installing several low-cost, low-power soil moisture sensors into the ground. Beginning in mid-June, he and others will be in Sitka on the Mount Verstovia hillside inserting these sensors into landslide prone terrain. Soil moisture isn’t the only weather phenomenon that will be analyzed; precipitation and wind at high elevations will also help make informed decisions about landslide risk.

Weather Station

Harbor Mountain holds a high-elevation weather station that monitors wind and precipitation. Provided by the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, these stations help to develop an understanding of how increasing altitude impacts precipitation and wind.

Soil Moisture

Modern landslide research has indicated that monitoring subsurface hillslope conditions (eg, moisture level and water pressure) will help provide more accurate landslide forecasts. Allowing for a constant observation of such characteristics at various depths and having the ability to nearly immediately sense minor changes in them offers a much clearer image of landslide susceptibility (as opposed to antecedent precipitation or stream discharge).

Data Collection

These sensors need to send their data somewhere, though! The U.S. Forest Service in Sitka is supporting this project by creating a home for some data-receiving antennas. As the soil moisture sensors and weather stations send their data into the world, these antennas pick them up.

Once the data reaches the antennas, the information is sent into the building via a data transmission cable, down a long hallway, and into a control room. Here, the data is stored in a server accessible by those working on the project. U.S. Forest Service employee Aaron Prussian has been working hard to get these antennas hooked up for the past couple of weeks; we are thrilled to share that they’re just about ready to start collecting data!