This paper concerns the application of electric transducers for studying the instability of peri-urban slopes in Caramanico Terme, a hilltop town located in the Apennine Mountains of the Abruzzi region (Central Italy). We describe the functioning of three types of piezometers located within different geologic materials and their response to the variations of the slope boundary conditions in terms of time lag and data reliability. The Caramanico area is characterised by a long record of historical landsliding activity typical of a high mountainous setting subjected to a relatively high average rainfall and seismic activity. Following previous landslide surveys and a careful evaluation of slope movements case records, we argue that a systematic and periodic monitoring of both ground deformation and causal factors of instability using integrated ground-based techniques, including subsurface monitoring, is necessary to advance the understanding of recurrent landslide hazards. In particular, electric transducers installed within both an oper-pipe piezometer and a Casagrande cell, together with electric piezometers, have been recognised as useful to gain a deeper insight on local groundwater variations. A very small acquisition timestep (6 hours) of the data-logging is aimed at obtaining nearly continuos pore water pressure measurements during intense rainfall and future earthquake events.
展开▼
