Applying The Grid: Landslide Modeling for Risk Reduction in Developing Countries

This project will, for the first time, establish large scale resource provisioning and sophisticated data mining for landslide modeling for use in risk reduction. It couples STFC-developed Grid software with proven, cutting-edge software in the field of slope hydrology and geotechnics. This technology will allow engineers and planners involved in national infrastructure and risk management projects throughout the developing world, to effectively predict and mitigate landslide risk without substantial investment in large and complex local computing facilities. Developing countries with high rainfall face major problems in the evaluation and management of risk associated with catastrophic landslides. This is particularly relevant for development activities such as highway construction and rehabilitation, which constitute 10% of World Bank loans. The Bristol School of Geographical Sciences has developed state-of-the-art landslide modeling software that has been successfully used in addressing these issues as part of major projects in a number of countries. A recent collaboration with the Bristol Particle Physics group has allowed this software to be used internationally via a basic web portal, increasing its availability in the developing world. We propose to continue and expand this collaboration, applying STFC-developed Grid computing technology to build the first iteration of robust commercial-grade modeling service. The unique experience gained in the development of Grid data processing systems for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments will allow us to rapidly demonstrate such a service. The aim is to provide modeling facilities for analysis of landslide risks to hundreds of users, and allow secure and robust storage, querying and retrieval of results. This project will thereby bring direct and substantial benefits to international development projects, providing a step change in modeling capabilities in this field. It will also act as a high-profile exemplar for the application of STFC Grid technology to a real world problem, opening the door to future commercialisation. There are many possible routes for commercial use of this technology in the geographical sciences area alone; for instance, the provision of secure flood modeling services to the UK insurance industry and planning authorities. An established industrial partner, Bristol Innovations Software Sales Ltd (BISSL), already markets the landslide modeling software and will offer a route to contacts in relevant industries and access to equity seed funding. BISSL will participate in the monthly project team meetings to ensure the developing project continues to address market needs. The University of Bristol will provide startup-computing resources provided via the HPC project.