Landslide simulation by using the SPH method and LiDAR data

In recent years, the amount of available remote sensing data such as LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) has increased immensely. This has enabled numerous new applications for analysing and studying different environmental phenomena. New environmental simulations have been developed, which also utilize high performance computing reachable in today's time. In this paper, a new environmental simulation is proposed that focuses on 3D landslides simulation by using surface topography from LiDAR data and SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics), which is a well-established Lagrangian fluid simulation method. By transforming the surface data into regularly distributed particle type mesh, different particles can be augmented with surface-based properties. Classified surface data also provide a new way of representing obstacles (e.g. vegetation and buildings), and simulation boundary conditions that act differently on a landslide's velocity. The results of this paper demonstrate the applicability of dynamic boundary conditions when simulating landslides over vegetated areas based on classified LiDAR data.