FEMA grant will help KGS researchers collect hazards data, improve future hazards mitigation
The Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS), a research center within the University of Kentucky, recently received grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to support four separate Kentucky hazard-related projects.
The first project, Enriching Kentucky's Landslide Inventory Database, was awarded $98,057. This two-year project will augment the existing KGS landslide inventory database. Principal investigator (PI) and landslide geologist Matt Crawford, Ph.D., plans to collect data to establish the link between known landslide occurrences and particular storm events. This link will allow researchers to evaluate seasonal trends and rainfall thresholds related to slope failure.
"We've seen extreme rainfall trigger Kentucky landslides," said Crawford. "This funding will allow us to update our landslide inventory database and help hazards stakeholders make better mitigation decisions based on the new information."
For the second part of this project, geologist Evelyn Bibbins will add to the existing inventory by mapping previously undocumented landslides using airborne light detection and ranging (lidar), as well as conducting elevation differencing between two sets of lidar. As for mitigation, an updated landslide inventory will inform land use decisions, reducing impacts to transportation infrastructure, protecting critical infrastructure, protecting natural resources, and improving economic development.
The next funded project, Develop a Karst/Sinkhole Hazard Mitigation Plan-Related Activity (PRA) for the Barren River Area Development District (BRADD), is a three-year project with a total award of $308,323. PI Junfeng Zhu, Ph.D., hydrogeologist at KGS, will leverage existing sinkhole data, geology formation data, 1:24000 karst potential data, and the latest high-resolution lidar data from the Kentucky Division of Geographic Information to generate more accurate sinkhole data and in-depth evaluations of sinkhole hazards. The project will also collect new cover-collapse data and develop karst hazard information brochures.
"We hope that this new information will result in a more systematic risk and vulnerability assessment for karst and sinkholes," Zhu said. "Improved data on existing and new sinkholes is critical for hazard evaluation, mitigation, and ultimately, risk reduction in both BRADD and the Commonwealth of Kentucky."
Similarly, the third funded project, Identifying Areas with Higher Potential Vulnerability to Karst Sinkhole or Groundwater-Induced Flooding for the Inner Bluegrass Region, led by PI Charles Taylor, a hydrogeologist and the KGS Water Resources Section head, aims to address a critical information and data gap in flood hazard planning and mitigation efforts in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky. The three-year, $218,887 project will identify areas of higher potential vulnerability to karst sinkhole and groundwater-induced flooding by implementing advanced GIS terrain modeling and watershed delineation techniques to process high-resolution lidar topographic and sinkhole location data. The project will combine these data with other selected karst hydrogeologic and hydrologic geospatial data. The goal is to obtain a new digital dataset that delineates catchment boundaries for individual sinkholes and sinking streams and develop new hydrogeologic modeling techniques needed to better assess the potential occurrence, and possible impacts, of karst-related flooding throughout the region. This will provide critically needed information to aid stormwater disposal planning and sinkhole flood mitigation efforts in urban-suburban areas and help evaluate the relative potential vulnerability of these areas to karst-related flooding.
"This funding will really fill a gap in the current data," emphasized Taylor. "Groundwater and surface water are highly interconnected in most parts of the Inner Bluegrass region and the role that karst plays in flood occurrence and severity has not been widely recognized or studied here. So, this is an opportunity to greatly improve our understanding of karst as a flood hazard and map potential vulnerabilities of sinkhole and sinking stream catchments to groundwater-induced flooding."
The fourth funded project is a three-year endeavor headed by PI Seth Carpenter, Ph.D., seismologist in the KGS hazards section. The project, Real-time Tornado Touchdown Monitoring from the Kentucky Seismic and Strong Motion Network, was awarded $191,930 to identify seismic and infrasonic signals that a tornado generates while on the ground, and to assess the feasibility of using real-time data to improve tornado warning systems. The project will use existing seismic recordings from the Kentucky Seismic and Strong Motion Network (KSSMN), a network of 24 seismic and strong-motion stations in 18 counties across the Commonwealth and two additional stations in northwestern Tennessee, as well as stations elsewhere in the central and eastern U.S. that were near documented tornado paths. Also, the KSSMN will be improved as part of this project with the installations of new instruments that are more responsive to the seismic and air vibrations produced by tornadoes: sensitive "broadband" seismometers will be installed at three stations and 10 stations will receive infrasound sensors. Most of the KSSMN stations are connected to the internet and produce data in near-real-time. Depending on the results of the feasibility assessment, the project will also lay the foundation for incorporation of seismic and infrasonic data streams into real-time tornado warning systems, which will assist emergency managers and local officials.
"After the devastating western Kentucky storm system in December 2021 produced multiple tornadoes that caused great loss of life and property, we hope this research not only improves tornado warnings systems, but also assists with tornado risk reduction in Kentucky," said Carpenter.
Combined, the four projects highlight the research being done by KGS to help address Kentucky hazards and inform mitigation decisions. Geologic hazards are threats to personal safety, personal and public property, and infrastructure. Besides these direct costs, geologic hazards can also result in indirect costs, including loss of tax revenue, reduced property values, road closures, and litigation expenses.