Assessment of Landslides Using Acoustic Real-time Monitoring Systems (ALARMS): Low Cost Sensor Development and Exploitation
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Civil and Building Engineering
Abstract
Slope failures world-wide cause many thousands of deaths each year and damage built environment infrastructure costing billions of pounds to repair, resulting in thousands of people being made homeless and the breakdown of basic services such as water supply and transport. There is a clear need for low cost instrumentation that can provide an early warning of slope instability to enable evacuation of vulnerable people and timely repair and maintenance of critical infrastructure. Current instrumentation systems are either too expensive for wide scale use or have technical limitations. An approach based on acoustic emission real-time monitoring has been developed and demonstrated through research. It is proposed to develop low cost acoustic slope displacement rate sensors for a range of markets. These include very low cost sensors with visual/audible alarms for use in developing countries through to higher cost networked sensors with advanced diagnostic capability and wireless communication for condition appraisal of critical infrastructure in developed countries. In addition to manufacture of sensors, there is also a need for technical support on the selection of appropriate sensors, deployment and use. This project aims to design and build pre-prototype sensors, demonstrate their performance in field trials, conduct market research on the UK and international markets and develop a business plan to enable commercial exploitation of the technology.
Organisations
- Loughborough University (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Alberta (Collaboration)
- Geotechnical Observations (Collaboration)
- Queen's University (Collaboration)
- Scarborough Borough Council (Collaboration)
- Newcastle University (Collaboration)
- CH2M HILL (Collaboration)
- Canadian Pacific Railway (Collaboration)
- National Research Council (Collaboration)
- DURHAM UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- Parsons Brinckerhoff (Collaboration)
- British Geological Survey (Collaboration)
- MONMOUTHSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL (Collaboration)
- Canadian National Railway (Collaboration)
- Government of Alberta (Collaboration)
- Thurber Engineering Ltd (Collaboration)
- INGLAS GmbH & Co. KG (Collaboration)
- Network Rail (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Neil Dixon (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Smith A
(2017)
Photographic feature: Acoustic emission monitoring of coastal slopes in NE England, UK
in Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
Smith A
(2017)
Early detection of first-time slope failures using acoustic emission measurements: large-scale physical modelling
in Géotechnique
Codeglia D
(2017)
Analysis of acoustic emission patterns for monitoring of rock slope deformation mechanisms
in Engineering Geology
Smith A
(2016)
Monitoring buried pipe deformation using acoustic emission: quantification of attenuation
in International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Wilkinson P
(2016)
Reconstruction of landslide movements by inversion of 4-D electrical resistivity tomography monitoring data
in Geophysical Research Letters
Smith A
(2016)
Monitoring buried pipe deformation using acoustic emission: quantification of attenuation
in International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Uhlemann S
(2016)
Assessment of ground-based monitoring techniques applied to landslide investigations
in Geomorphology
Smith A
(2015)
Quantification of landslide velocity from active waveguide-generated acoustic emission
in Canadian Geotechnical Journal
Codeglia D
(2015)
Strategies for rock slope failure early warning using acoustic emission monitoring
in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
Dixon N
(2015)
Stability monitoring of a rail slope using acoustic emission
in Proceedings of the ICE - Geotechnical Engineering
Smith, A.
(2014)
Inclinometer casings retrofitted with acoustic real-time monitoring systems
in Ground Engineering
Dixon N
(2014)
Quantification of reactivated landslide behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring
in Landslides
Smith A
(2014)
Acoustic emission monitoring of a soil slope: Comparisons with continuous deformation measurements
in Géotechnique Letters
Dixon, N
(2012)
Field trial of an acoustic emission early warning system for slope instability.
in -
Neil Dixon (Author)
(2012)
Landslide hazard evaluation by means of several monitoring techniques, including an acoustic emission sensor
Neil Dixon (Author)
(2012)
Field trial of an acoustic emission early warning system for slope instability.
| Description | The sesnor developed through this project was trialled on active landslides where its performance was compared to traditional monitoring methods. These trials demonstrated that the sensor could detect acoustic emission generated by the deforming slope and provide information on rates of deformation in real-time. |
| Exploitation Route | This ongoing research and development is designed to establish performance of th sensor with the aim of commercialising it through licensing. The outputs from this project were used to obtain EPSRC Knowledge Transfer Account funding to extend the number of trials, including in collaboration with Network Rail, and also to obtain EPSRC/Finance South East Collaboration Funding in collaboration with The British Geological Survey to extend the trials and re-engineer the sensor to improve energy useage and reduce cost of manufacture. |
| Sectors | Construction,Environment,Transport |
| Description | The findings from this study were used to develop a family of low cost unitary sensors that have been extensively trialed at sites world-wide. This development was supported by EPSRC. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
| Sector | Construction,Environment,Transport |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | Assessment of Landslides Using Acoustic Real-time Monitoring Systems (ALARMS): Proof of Concept |
| Amount | £79,892 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Department | EPSRC KTA Knowledge Transfer Account |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2010 |
| End | 08/2011 |
| Description | Assessment of Landslides Using Acoustic Real-time Monitoring Systems (ALARMS): Proof of Concept |
| Amount | £79,892 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Department | EPSRC KTA Knowledge Transfer Account |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2010 |
| End | 06/2011 |
| Description | Assessment of Landslides using Acoustic Real-time Monitoring Systems (ALARMS): Sensor Technical Development |
| Amount | £40,933 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/I502041/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2011 |
| End | 04/2012 |
| Description | Community Slope SAFE: Design for Manufacture |
| Amount | £47,532 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2016 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | Community Slope SAFE: Malaysia Field Trial |
| Amount | £26,615 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2016 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | European Commision Pre-commercial procurement |
| Amount | € 58,105 (EUR) |
| Organisation | Austrian Research Promotion Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Austria |
| Start | 02/2013 |
| End | 05/2016 |
| Description | Slope ALARMS 'Lite': Protecting Vulnerable Global Communities |
| Amount | £110,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Loughborough University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2013 |
| End | 09/2015 |
| Description | Geotechnical Observations Ltd |
| Organisation | Geotechnical Observations |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| Start Year | 2007 |
| Description | Monitoring the BIONICS embankment, Newcastle, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Durham University |
| Department | School of Engineering and Computing Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Both Durham and Newcastle supported the field work activities and are involved in project meetings. |
| Impact | PhD thesis: Quantification of slope deformation behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Monitoring the BIONICS embankment, Newcastle, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Department | School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Both Durham and Newcastle supported the field work activities and are involved in project meetings. |
| Impact | PhD thesis: Quantification of slope deformation behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Monitoring the Flat Cliffs and Scarborough Spa slopes, North Yorkshire, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | CH2M HILL |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | SBC provided funds for the boreholes at both the Scarborough Spa and Flat Cliffs sites, in which the Slope ALARMS systems were installed. CH2M provided in-kind support through staff time for project meetings and field data collection. |
| Impact | Conference paper: Performance of an acoustic emission monitoring system to detect subsurface ground movement at Flat Cliffs, North Yorkshire, UK PhD thesis: Quantification of slope deformation behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Monitoring the Flat Cliffs and Scarborough Spa slopes, North Yorkshire, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Scarborough Borough Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | SBC provided funds for the boreholes at both the Scarborough Spa and Flat Cliffs sites, in which the Slope ALARMS systems were installed. CH2M provided in-kind support through staff time for project meetings and field data collection. |
| Impact | Conference paper: Performance of an acoustic emission monitoring system to detect subsurface ground movement at Flat Cliffs, North Yorkshire, UK PhD thesis: Quantification of slope deformation behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Monitoring the Grossreifling slope, Austria, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | INGLAS GmbH & Co. KG |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Inglas provided support for the field work activities and have attended project meetings/workshops. |
| Impact | Conference paper: Strategies for rock slope failure early warning using acoustic emission monitoring |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Monitoring the Hollin Hill landslide, North Yorkshire, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | British Geological Survey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BGS provided in-kind support through staff time for field work, project meetings/workshops and development of publications. |
| Impact | Journal papers: Acoustic emission monitoring of a soil slope: Comparisons with continuous deformation measurements Quantification of reactivated landslide behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring Assessment of ground-based monitoring techniques applied to landslide investigations Inclinometer casings retrofitted with acoustic real-time monitoring systems Reconstruction of landslide movements by inversion of 4D electrical resistivity tomography monitoring data Conference papers: An acoustic emission slope displacement rate sensor - case studies Acoustic emission monitoring of active waveguides to quantify slope stability PhD thesis: Quantification of slope deformation behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | Monitoring the Passo della Morte landslide, north-east Italy, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | National Research Council |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CNR funded the drilling of the boreholes, in which the Slope ALARMS systems were installed. They also supported ongoing field work activities and attended meetings. |
| Impact | Conference paper: An acoustic emission slope displacement rate sensor - case studies |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Monitoring the Peace River landslide, Alberta, Canada, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Government of Alberta |
| Department | Ministry of Transportation |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Queen's University provided time to help with the field work and participated in regular project meetings. Alberta Transportation provided funds for the borehole drilling, in which the instrumentation was installed. Thurber Engineering provided time to help with the field work and ongoing maintenance of the system at the site, and made arrangements to facilitate Dr Alister Smith's visits to Canada to perform the field work. Thurber also provided materials for the installation and participate in project meetings. |
| Impact | Conference paper: Listening for Landslides: Method, Measurements and the Peace River Case Study |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Monitoring the Peace River landslide, Alberta, Canada, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Queen's University |
| Department | Faculty of Civil Engineering |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Queen's University provided time to help with the field work and participated in regular project meetings. Alberta Transportation provided funds for the borehole drilling, in which the instrumentation was installed. Thurber Engineering provided time to help with the field work and ongoing maintenance of the system at the site, and made arrangements to facilitate Dr Alister Smith's visits to Canada to perform the field work. Thurber also provided materials for the installation and participate in project meetings. |
| Impact | Conference paper: Listening for Landslides: Method, Measurements and the Peace River Case Study |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Monitoring the Peace River landslide, Alberta, Canada, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Thurber Engineering Ltd |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Queen's University provided time to help with the field work and participated in regular project meetings. Alberta Transportation provided funds for the borehole drilling, in which the instrumentation was installed. Thurber Engineering provided time to help with the field work and ongoing maintenance of the system at the site, and made arrangements to facilitate Dr Alister Smith's visits to Canada to perform the field work. Thurber also provided materials for the installation and participate in project meetings. |
| Impact | Conference paper: Listening for Landslides: Method, Measurements and the Peace River Case Study |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Monitoring the Players Crescent cutting landslide, Southampton, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Geotechnical Observations |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Geotechnical Observations provided in-kind support through time attending meetings and helping with field work, and they also provided field instrumentation to support the project (e.g. SAA). Network Rail provided in-kind support through helping with the field work. |
| Impact | Journal paper: Stability monitoring of a rail slope using acoustic emission PhD thesis: Quantification of slope deformation behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Monitoring the Players Crescent cutting landslide, Southampton, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Network Rail Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Geotechnical Observations provided in-kind support through time attending meetings and helping with field work, and they also provided field instrumentation to support the project (e.g. SAA). Network Rail provided in-kind support through helping with the field work. |
| Impact | Journal paper: Stability monitoring of a rail slope using acoustic emission PhD thesis: Quantification of slope deformation behaviour using acoustic emission monitoring |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Monitoring the Ripley landslide, British Columbia, Canada, using Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Canadian National Railway |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring system. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | University of Alberta provided time (staff and students) to help with the field work, and made arrangements to facilitate Dr Alister Smith's visit to Canada to perform the field work. Canadian National Railway provided funds for materials, travel and subsistence for Alister to complete the field installation. They also provided staff time to support the field work. Canadian Pacific Railway provided staff time to support the field work. All collaborators participate in periodic project workshops. |
| Impact | No outputs as of yet. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Monitoring the Ripley landslide, British Columbia, Canada, using Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Canadian Pacific Railway |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring system. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | University of Alberta provided time (staff and students) to help with the field work, and made arrangements to facilitate Dr Alister Smith's visit to Canada to perform the field work. Canadian National Railway provided funds for materials, travel and subsistence for Alister to complete the field installation. They also provided staff time to support the field work. Canadian Pacific Railway provided staff time to support the field work. All collaborators participate in periodic project workshops. |
| Impact | No outputs as of yet. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Monitoring the Ripley landslide, British Columbia, Canada, using Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | University of Alberta |
| Department | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring system. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations at workshops and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | University of Alberta provided time (staff and students) to help with the field work, and made arrangements to facilitate Dr Alister Smith's visit to Canada to perform the field work. Canadian National Railway provided funds for materials, travel and subsistence for Alister to complete the field installation. They also provided staff time to support the field work. Canadian Pacific Railway provided staff time to support the field work. All collaborators participate in periodic project workshops. |
| Impact | No outputs as of yet. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Monitoring the Ruthlin Mill and Duffryn Cottages landslides, Wales, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Monmouthshire County Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MMC provided £2000 for the field installations of Slope ALARMS at the two sites. They also provided staff time to support the work and attend project meetings. Parsons provided in-kind support to help with planning the field work and to attend project meetings. |
| Impact | Low cost real-time slope monitoring to inform risk management for the protection of people and infrastructure. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Monitoring the Ruthlin Mill and Duffryn Cottages landslides, Wales, UK, using the Slope ALARMS acoustic emission system |
| Organisation | Parsons Brinckerhoff |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Supply of Slope ALARMS acoustic emission monitoring systems. Field work for installation of the instrumentation and ongoing support services. Presentations and contributions to project meetings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MMC provided £2000 for the field installations of Slope ALARMS at the two sites. They also provided staff time to support the work and attend project meetings. Parsons provided in-kind support to help with planning the field work and to attend project meetings. |
| Impact | Low cost real-time slope monitoring to inform risk management for the protection of people and infrastructure. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | NERC British Geological Survey |
| Organisation | British Geological Survey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Start Year | 2005 |
| Title | Monitoring soil slope displacement rate by detecting acoustic emissions |
| Description | An apparatus for monitoring soil slope (A) displacement rate comprises a sensor locatable on an active waveguide (E) partially buried in the soil to detect acoustic emissions transmitted through the waveguide as a result of soil displacement. The apparatus also includes a processor which analyses the detected acoustic emissions to determine a ring down count (RDC) rate, compares the RDC rate with a predetermined trigger value, and generates an alert when the RDC rate exceeds the predetermined trigger value. There is a predetermined relationship between RDC rate and soil slope displacement rate and the RDC rate thus provides a direct indication of the soil slope displacement rate. The processor may also determine the rate of change of the RDC rate and hence the soil slope displacement rate. |
| IP Reference | GB2467419 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2010 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | Public engagement through Discovery Channel film on the technique. |
| Description | Slope ALARMS Enterprise Film Loughborough University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Loughborough University created an Enterprise film on Slope ALARMS, in which Professor Dixon and Dr Smith featured, as a way to engage wider audiences with the research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBf24DlPSdw |
| Description | Televised film for BBCs Inside Out programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The BBC decided to produce a film on landslide early warning in response to landslides in the UK during the winter of 2015-2016. Alister was interviewed and he demonstrated Slope ALARMS - this was filmed at one of our field trial sites in North Yorkshire, UK. The film aired on UK national television. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b071y2b9/inside-out-yorkshire-and-lincolnshire-22022016 |
| Description | Televised film for Discovery Channels Daily Planet programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Discovery Channel decided to produce a film on landslide early warning in response to the Oso landslide disaster. We demonstrated Slope ALARMS and filmed three of our field trial sites in North Yorkshire, UK. The film aired on Canada national television. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.slopealarms.com/ |