Tools

Bankfor^NET is an online tool that simulates hydraulic streambank erosion that can be expected in relation to the channel morphology, bank material, vegetation roots and the discharge scenario. It is a is a one-dimensional, probabilistic model which applies randomness to the soil erosion parameters. The model uses an empirical excess shear stress equation, where the effects of roots are implemented by adapting the material dependent critical shear stress to consider the spatio-temporal distribution of root area ratio (RAR), the dynamics of channel geometry, and stream discharge (cf. Gasser et al., 2020). This tool aims to support experts in the quantification of bank erosion hazards and the effects of biological measures.

• Use BankforNET^NET

ELine is a tool for indicating mass movement runout zones using the energy line principle. 

ELine delivers maps with runout zones, passing frequencies and estimates of kinetic energies.

ELine is freely available for all members of the association! Become a member or login as a member.

FINT (Find INdividual Trees) is an application software for Windows for detecting individual trees on the basis of a detailed surface model (such as those created on the basis of aerial or terrestrial laserscanning data). FINT delivers postitions of dominant trees, tree heights and tree diameters.The user manual can be found here. A Python code, based on the algorithms of FINT and developed respectively improved within the framework of the Swiss research project FINT-CH, can be freely obtained from this download page. 

The stand-alone version of FINT is freely available for all members of the association! Become a member or login as a member.

Rockfor^NET is an online tool that estimates the degree of protection of a forest regarding rockfall given the defined conditions. Secondly, it provides the optimal characteristics of a rockfall protection forest given those conditions.

• Use Rockfor^NET

RockavELA is a rock avalanche runout modelling tool which is based on a trajectory specific energy line angle (ELA). For each trajectory the ELA is adjusted for the normalised area under the trajectory profile. More details on the usage and background of the model will follow in the course of 2023. RockavELA can be used for free and can be downloaded here: default RockavELA_install (11.33 MB)

Rockyfor3D (developed by Luuk Dorren, with support from, amongst others, Frédéric Berger and Franck Bourier) is a software that explcitly and realistically integrates the barrier effect of trees on falling rocks. The model is a spatially distributed, probabilistic, process-based model and uses a Digital Elevation Model for the representation of the terrain and raster maps for the input parameters.

The main calculations carried out by Rockyfor3D are:

• the 3D trajectory of each simulated rock
• the translational and rotational velocity along its trajectory
• the energy loss during a rebound on the slope or during a tree impact

Rockyfor3D is freely available for all members of the association! Become a member or login as a member.

SlideForce (bèta version) is a spatially-explicit model for the simulation of the runout of shallow landslides and resulting hillslope debris flows. The basis for this model has been elaborated within a scientific project financed by the Swiss federal office for the environment FOEN and carried out by the Bern University of Applied Sciences – HAFL (cf. pdf SlideForce Project report (98.31 MB) ; report in French with summaries in English and German).

Although some improvements need to be finalised and the manual still needs to be written, we would like to allow all members to gather first experiences with this new runout model. Please use 100 simulations per release area (which needs to be a boolean raster [0/1]) to obtain a sound map showing the number of passages per cell of a sliding mass (output raster <N.asc>). The latter raster allows to calculate reach probability values for the whole runout area - this output will be automised and added in the next update.

SlideForce is freely available for all members of the association! Become a member or login as a member.

Slidefor^NET is an online tool that estimates the degree of protection of a forest regarding shallow landsliding given the defined slope and forest conditions. It is based on a slope stability analysis that accounts for lateral reinforcement of tree roots.

• Use Slidefor^NET

SOSlope is a hydro-mechanical model of slope stability that computes the factor of safety on a hillslope discretized into a two-dimensional array of blocks connected by bonds. Bonds between adjacent blocks represent mechanical forces acting across the blocks due to roots and soil (cf. Cohen and Schwarz, 2017).

The main calculations carried out by SOSlope are:

• the displacement in meters of each cell of the input terrain model
• the factor of safety of each cell
• the location, the number of failed cells, the area and the volume of each landslide
• the mobilised root reinforcement under tension and compression

SOSlope is freely available for all members of the association! Become a member or login as a member.