Mass movements in Brazil are common phenomena, especially during strong rainfall events that occur frequently in the summer season. These phenomena cause losses of lives and serious damage to roads, bridges, and properties. Moreover, the illegal occupation by slums on the slopes around the cities intensifies the effect of the mass movement. This study aimed to develop a methodology that combines models of shallow landslides and debris-flows in order to create a map with landslides initiation and debris-flows volume and runout distance. The study area comprised of two catchments in Rio de Janeiro city: Quitite and Papagaio that drained side by side the west flank of the Maciço da Tijuca, with an area of 5 km 2 . The method included the following steps:(a) location of the susceptible areas to landslides using SHALSTAB model; (b) determination of rheological parameters of debris-flow from the back-analysis technique; and (c) combination of SHALSTAB and FLO-2D models to delineate the areas more susceptible to mass movements. These scenarios were compared with the landslide and debris-flow event of February 1996. Many FLO-2D simulations were exhaustively OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2013, 5 2220 made to estimate the rheological parameters from the back-analysis technique. Those rheological coefficients of single simulation were back-calculated by adjusting with area and depth of the debris-flow obtained from field data. The initial material volume in the FLO-2D simulations was estimated from SHALSTAB model. The combination of these two mathematical models, SHALSTAB and FLO-2D, was able to predict both landslides and debris-flow events. Such procedures can reduce the casualties and property damage, delineating hazard areas, to estimate hazard intensities for input into risk studies providing information for public policy and planning.

Rainfall intensity equations are fundamental in hydrological studies of road design, which require a project rainfall definition to estimate the project flow and the subsequent design of the hydraulic structure. This paper develops an integrated framework for rainfall intensity equations analyses from global optimization via Differential Evolution. The code was specially developed to facilitate the Gumbel model adjustment in the frequency analysis of annual series, as well as the intensity-duration-frequency model fit, without prior knowledge about the parameters of both models. The developed system was evaluated by using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation, that search efficiently the model parameter space in pursuit of posterior samples and the posterior prediction uncertainty for both models. The results indicate that simulations are shown to be in good agreement with the measured flow and precipitation data. The optimal parameters obtained with the developed framework agreed with the maximum a-posteriori value of the Monte Carlo simulations. The paper illustrates explicitly the benefits of the method using real-world precipitation data collected for a hydrologic study of a highway design.

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Disponível on-line no endereço www.igc.usp.br/geologiausp -139 -Resumo O processo de queda de blocos rochosos é um dos mais destrutivos movimentos de massa em encostas. Considerando a baixa previsibilidade da sua deflagração, tem sido dada atenção à determinação das trajetórias dos blocos como método para redução de riscos. O coeficiente de restituição (ε) é o principal parâmetro físico envolvido na análise do alcance dos blocos, pois representa as perdas de energia após os choques do bloco de rocha com diferentes materiais geológicos em sua trajetória. Trata-se de um parâmetro ainda pouco conhecido na literatura geológica e geotécnica, sobretudo quando se considera a interação dos blocos de rocha com solos em diferentes umidades. Este artigo teve a finalidade de avaliar o efeito da umidade do solo sobre o módulo de elasticidade (E), parâmetro elástico que afeta a rigidez no contato entre rocha e solo no momento do choque e, por conseguinte, o próprio ε. Para fins de comparação, um solo derivado de rocha ácida e outro de rocha básica foram coletados na região serrana do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Procedeu-se à caracterização da mineralogia das rochas de origem e dos solos derivados, bem como dos índices físicos dos solos. Após a determinação da curva característica, os solos foram moldados em diferentes teores de umidade e submetidos a ensaios de compressão triaxial do tipo não adensado e não drenado. Os resultados mostraram variação de mais de uma ordem de grandeza do (E) em função da umidade do solo, indicando que esta tem considerável influência na rigidez do contato entre o solo e a rocha, tornando os alcances dependentes da variação sazonal de umidade nas encostas.Palavras-chave: Módulo de Elasticidade; Umidade do Solo; Rigidez nos Contatos. AbstractRock falls are one of the most destructive mass movements in hillslopes. Considering the low predictability of its triggering, attention has been paid in determining the paths of the blocks as a method to reduce risks. The coefficient of restitution (ε) is the primary physical parameter involved in the analysis of the reach of the blocks. It represents the loss of energy after each shock of a rock block with different geological materials in its trajectory and it is still little known in geological and geotechnical literature, especially when considering the interaction of rock blocks with soil at different humidities. This article aimed to evaluate the effect of soil moisture on the elasticity modulus, an elastic parameter that affects the stiffness at the contact between rock and soil at the time of shock and, therefore, the actual coefficient of restitution. For comparison purposes, soils derived from acid rock and from basic rocks were sampled in the mountainous region of the State state of Rio de Janeiro. The procedure was to characterize the mineralogy of source rocks and its derived soils, as well as the physical indices of the soils. After determining the characteristic curve, the soils were molded at different moisture contents and subjected to unconsoli...

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