DebrisFlow Predictor: an agent-based runout program for shallow landslides

Stantec recently released DebrisFlow Predictor, a new software program that can reasonably predict the path – and potential impacts – of landslides. It is a cost-effective solution to help the firm’s landslide professionals protect people, the environment, and infrastructure from the threat of debris flows and debris avalanches.

On March 18, 2021 the European Geosciences Union published DebrisFlow Predictor: an agent-based runout program from shallow landslides by Dr. Richard Guthrie and Andrew Befus.

“Our team designed DebrisFlow Predictor to complement expert judgment,” says Guthrie. “This software predicts a landslide’s path, the depth along the path, and the total area and volume of the debris flow. Better yet, it is efficient to deploy, works with limited data inputs, and can be applied to a very large surface area. To date, there is no other program like it.”

If you live or work in, or adjacent to, mountainous terrain, DebrisFlow Predictor can help you better understand your hazards and your risk. The software can help reduce threats to vulnerable infrastructure and be used to benefit infrastructure, mines, and even environmental efforts by quantifying the actual sediment transfer from slopes to streams or lower positions on the landscape.