From climate change to landslide probability: the roles of nonstationarity and dependence structure of rainfall events
ID:104 View Protection:ATTENDEE Updated Time:2026-07-30 16:15:16 Hits:6 Invited speech

Start Time:2026-08-11 15:10(Asia/Hong_Kong)

Duration:15min

Session:S14 Session 14 Landslide Hazard Cascade under the Context of Climate Change » S14Session 14 Day 3

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Abstract
Climate change is expected to increase the risk of rainfall-induced landslides by altering rainfall characteristics. In particular, climate change can introduce rainfall nonstationarity, for example, through increases in rainfall intensity and frequency, and may also modify the dependence structure among rainfall variables. Accurately evaluating rainfall-induced landslide probability remains challenging because climate-driven rainfall changes are both time-varying and multivariate, whereas rainfall’s non-stationarity and dependence structure are still rarely considered in existing probabilistic landslide assessments. This study presents probabilistic frameworks for assessing rainfall-induced landslides in a changing climate by accounting for the nonstationarity and dependence structure (He et al., 2024, 2026a, 2026b). Using the total probability theorem, climate-driven rainfall hazards are integrated with slope fragilities to estimate landslide probability. Illustrative examples are provided for representative slopes in Hiroshima, Japan; Lishui, Southeast China; and Hong Kong. The results show that climate-driven rainfall nonstationarity can increase future landslide probability, while neglecting rainfall dependence can lead to considerable underestimation of landslide probability. These findings suggest that future landslide hazard assessment should move beyond single rainfall indicators and consider rainfall as a time-varying and mutually dependent process. This study provides new insights into the roles of rainfall’s nonstationarity and dependence structure in probabilistic landslide assessment under climate change.
Keywords
Climate change,Landslides,Rainfall nonstationarity,Rainfall dependence structure,Probabilistic assessment
Speaker
Zhengying HE
The University of Hong Kong

Submission Author
Zhengying HE The University of Hong Kong
Jun YANG The University of Hong Kong
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Important Date
  • Conference Date

    Aug 09

    2026

    to

    Aug 13

    2026

  • Aug 09 2026

    Draft paper submission deadline

  • Aug 12 2026

    Registration deadline

Sponsored By
International Consortium on Geo-disaster Reduction (ICGdR)
UNESCO Chair on Geoenvironmental Disaster Reduction
Organized By
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University