Journal of the Korean Geo-Environmental Society ISSN:1598-0820(Print) 2714-1233(Online) 한국지반환경공학회 논문집

This study aims to assess the influence of rainfall patterns on shallow landslides initiation. Doing so, five typical rainfall patterns with the same cumulative amount and intensity components comprising Advanced (A1 and A2), Centralized (C), and Delayed (D1 and D2) were designed based on a historical rainstorm event in Jinbu. Mt area. Those patterns were incorporated as the hydrological conditions into the Transient Rainfall Infiltration and Grid-based Regional Slope-stability Model (TRIGRS) to assess their influences on groundwater pressure and changes in the stability of the slope. The results revealed that not only the cumulative rainfall thresholds necessary to initiate landslides, but also the rate at which the factor of safety decreases and the time required to reach the critical state, are governed by rainfall patterns. The sooner the peak rainfall intensity, the smaller the cumulative rainfall threshold, and the shorter the time until landslide occurrence. Left-skewed patterns were found to have a greater effect on landslide initiation. Specifically, among five rainfalls, pattern (A1) produced the most critical state. The severity of response was followed by patterns A2, C, D1, and D2. Our conclusion is that rainfall patterns have a significant effect on the cumulative rainfall threshold, the build-up of groundwater pressure, and the occurrence of shallow landslides.