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Preface |
| In heavy snow regions with harsh natural conditions, the people suffer
from disasters caused by snow during winter, and landslide and other sediment
disasters occur frequently in snow melting season, inflicting severe damage
on houses, fields, roads etc. These conditions have resulted in an extremely
strong demand by public for the prevention and mitigation of these snow
and landslide disasters. In 1960, the Niigata Experimental Laboratory was
established in Arai City (now Myoko City) in Niigata Prefecture in response
to an urgent request by the Landslide Consultative Committee, and in particular,
by the Governor of Niigata Prefecture. The Mid-Niigata Prefecture Earthquake that struck Niigata Prefecture in October 2004, caused an unprecedented sediment disaster, sharply increasing its role in the sediment disaster research field. In response, it has changed its name in 2005 to the Snow Avalanche and Landslide Research Center in order to specialize in work related to research and development and technical guidance concerning snow and avalanches and landslides and perform its work more efficiently by strengthening its links with the Erosion and Sediment Control Research Group in Tsukuba. |
| Organization |
| Landslide Section To purpose to mitigate the landslide disaster in snowy region like Hokuriku, where widely distributed Tertiary weak sediments, the Landslide Section conducts following projects. (1) Occurrence mechanism of landslide by snowmelting, landslides induced by the Mid-Niigata earthquake. (2) Investigation method development of optical-fiber sensor,development of investigation method for groundwater (3) Management technique for landslide preservation facilities. Research on management and maintenance of anchor works for landslide prevention (4) Observation and test of experimental areas of landslides:long-term activity observation of Tertiary landslide in Okimi experimental area of landslide Snow Avalanche Section Japan is one of the countries that have leading snow amount in the world. The snow giving rich to people, but on the other hand, it cause severe natural situation. In Japan, the snowy and cold latitudes areas occupying about 60% of the nation's land, and about 20% of the total population is living there. So, it is becoming very important to study the snow for support to secure the safety life of the residences of these regions in the winter season. This section had been studying the prevention for snow disaster of road from 1962, but the large scale avalanche disaster occurred in Maseguchi, Nou-machi, Niigata Prefecture lead us to carrying out investigation and research to reveal the occurring condition of avalanche, to upgrade the prediction method of occurring of avalanche, and for developing rational avalanche control structure. |
Observation sites of snow avalanche research section |
| We are carrying out observation of avalanche activity in the frequently avalanche occurring areas such as in Maseguchi of Itoigawa City, Niigata Prefecture and Happo-one of Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture by using CCTV cameras. And, also conducting basic investigation for occurring mechanism of avalanche by observing cross section of snow cover.And, entrusting avalanche activity observation by using CCTV camera in two areas in Itoigawa and other in NiigataPrefecture. Furthermore, we established experimental areas for measurement of snow covering situation and effects of trees in Myoko city of Niigata Prefecture and Azumi Village of Nagano Prefecture. |
Research project |
| Research on risk assessment for re-activating
landslide triggered by earthquake Research on efficient maintenance for groundwater drainage facilities in landslide site Research on development for advanced groundwater investigating technique in landslide site Research on avalanche risk assessment method in heavy snow Research on Large-Scale AvalancheForecasting |
| Snow Avalanche and Landslide Research Center Incorporated Administrative Agency Public Works Reseach Institute 2-6-8, Nishiki-cho, Myoko-City, Niigata-Pref, 944-0051, Japan TEL:+81-255-72-4131 FAX:+81-255-72-9629 Copyright (C) 2008 Public Works Reseach Institute |