Articles | Volume 9, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-295-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-295-2021
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
15 Apr 2021
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 15 Apr 2021

Development of smart boulders to monitor mass movements via the Internet of Things: a pilot study in Nepal

Benedetta Dini, Georgina L. Bennett, Aldina M. A. Franco, Michael R. Z. Whitworth, Kristen L. Cook, Andreas Senn, and John M. Reynolds

Related authors

Beyond and beneath displacement time series: towards InSAR-based early warnings and deformation analysis of the Achoma landslide, Peru
Benedetta Dini, Pascal Lacroix, and Marie-Pierre Doin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1945,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1945, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS).
Short summary

Related subject area

Physical: Geomorphology (including all aspects of fluvial, coastal, aeolian, hillslope and glacial geomorphology)
Multiple equilibrium configurations in river-dominated deltas
Lorenzo Durante, Nicoletta Tambroni, and Michele Bolla Pittaluga
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 455–471, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-455-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-455-2025, 2025
Short summary
Investigating the celerity of propagation for small perturbations and dispersive sediment aggradation under a supercritical flow
Hasan Eslami, Erfan Poursoleymanzadeh, Mojtaba Hiteh, Keivan Tavakoli, Melika Yavari Nia, Ehsan Zadehali, Reihaneh Zarrabi, and Alessio Radice
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 437–454, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-437-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-437-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short communication: Multiscale topographic complexity analysis with pyTopoComplexity
Larry Syu-Heng Lai, Adam M. Booth, Alison R. Duvall, and Erich Herzig
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 417–435, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-417-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-417-2025, 2025
Short summary
Sub-surface processes and heat fluxes at coarse blocky Murtèl rock glacier (Engadine, eastern Swiss Alps): seasonal ice and convective cooling render rock glaciers climate-robust
Dominik Amschwand, Jonas Wicky, Martin Scherler, Martin Hoelzle, Bernhard Krummenacher, Anna Haberkorn, Christian Kienholz, and Hansueli Gubler
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 365–401, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-365-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-365-2025, 2025
Short summary
Influence of alluvial slope on avulsion in river deltas
Octria A. Prasojo, Trevor B. Hoey, Amanda Owen, and Richard D. Williams
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 349–363, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-349-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-349-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Acharya, T. D., Mainali, S. C., Yang, I. T., and Lee, D. H.: Analysis of jure landslide dam, Sindhupalchowk using GIS and Remote Sensing, Int. Arch. Photogramm., 41, 201–203, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprsarchives-XLI-B6-201-2016, 2016. 
Akeila, E., Salcic, Z., and Swain, A.: Smart pebble for monitoring riverbed sediment transport, IEEE Sens. J., 10, 1705–1717, 2010. 
Basnet, C. B. and Panthi, K. K.: Evaluation on the Minimum Principal Stress State and Potential Hydraulic Jacking from the Shotcrete-Lined Pressure Tunnel: A Case from Nepal, Rock Mech. Rock Eng., 52, 2377–2399, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-019-1734-z, 2019. 
Bennett, G. L. and Ryan, S.: Rock and Roll: Passive sensing of fluvial bedload and wood transport and interaction, Geophysical Research Abstracts, 20, EGU2018-18272-1, 2018. 
Bennett, G. L., Miller, S. R., Roering, J. J., and Schmidt, D. A.: Landslides, threshold slopes, and the survival of relict terrain in the wake of the Mendocino Triple Junction, Geology, 44, 363–366, https://doi.org/10.1130/G37530.1, 2016a. 
Download

The requested paper has a corresponding corrigendum published. Please read the corrigendum first before downloading the article.

Short summary
We use long-range smart sensors connected to a network based on the Internet of Things to explore the possibility of detecting hazardous boulder movements in real time. Prior to the 2019 monsoon season we inserted the devices in 23 boulders spread over debris flow channels and a landslide in northeastern Nepal. The data obtained in this pilot study show the potential of this technology to be used in remote hazard-prone areas in future early warning systems.
Share