GEO4171 – Floods, Avalanches and Landslides

Course content

The course addresses the most common geohazards in Norway: floods, landslides and avalanches.

The course starts with an introduction to hazard and risk concepts and terminology, as well as mapping methods and regulations. After that, the course curriculum will go in-depth on aspects specific to floods, landslides and avalanches.

The course will introduce the main processes creating different types of floods, landslides and avalanches for all three hazards. Approaches and methods to collect data, estimate the probability of occurrence, determine hazard zones, forecast, and assess climate change impacts will be presented and discussed, together with possible mitigation measures against the three hazard types.?

For floods, special focus will be given to extreme value theory and flood frequency analysis. In the landslides part, students will learn to read and analyze the landscape and learn about tools and methods to assess slope stability. The teaching in the avalanches part will pay special attention to snow mechanics, avalanche dynamics and modelling.?

This common knowledge will be used to write a multi-hazard assessment for a given scenario. Through this, students are stimulated to synthesize their new knowledge and to train the methodological skills obtained in the three individual parts of the course.

Learning outcome

After completing the course, you will be able to

  • explain processes generating floods, landslides and avalanches
  • apply flood frequency analysis
  • apply models and methods for assessing slope stability and run-out zones of avalanches and landslides
  • describe event inventories and susceptibility-, hazard- and risk maps for floods, avalanches and landslides
  • describe common mitigation measures against floods, landslides and avalanches
  • describe methods for forecasting floods, avalanches and landslides
  • reflect on climate change impacts on floods, avalanches and landslides
  • have basic competence in relevant software and tools commonly used for hazard assessments (e.g. R, RAMMS, ArcGIS)
  • write a scientific report about a predefined topic

Admission to the course

Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other master's degree programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may?apply to take this course as a single course student.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

Formal prerequisite knowledge

The following course must be taken before the field trip in GEO4171:

or equivalent knowledge

Overlapping courses

Teaching

2*2 hours of lectures and 2*2 hours of practicals/exercises per week.?Many of the practicals will be dedicated to preparing an assignment that counts towards the final grade.

There will be a one-day excursion to Romerike focused on quick clay and floods, and a 3-day overnight field trip to the mountains, focused on avalanches. Participation in these two excursions / field trips is mandatory.

Attendance at the first lecture is compulsory. Students who fail to meet are considered to have withdrawn from the course unless they have previously given notice to the Student administration (studieinfo@geo.uio.no).

We reserve the right to change the teaching?form and examination of the course in semesters where 5 or fewer students have been admitted.

To attend the field trip/excursion it is required that the following course is passed:

You will need to provide documentation that you have passed HMS0504 when you attend the field trip / excursion.

General information about excursions at the Department of Geosciences

As the teaching involves laboratory and/or fieldwork, you need separate travel and personal risk insurance.?Read about your insurance cover as a student.

Cost of taking the course

The excursion has a fee of NOK 150?per day (if accommodation).

Examination

  • The assignment from the practical counts 50% towards the final grade.
  • The final exam counts 50% towards the final?grade.
  • Both the assignment and the final exam must be passed separately to pass the course.

The final exam may be carried out as a written or oral exam, depending on - among others - the number of students.

Mandatory assignments are valid for 5 semesters starting from the semester they were approved the first time.

It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you?withdraw from the exam?after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.

It will also be counted as 1 of the 3 attempts to sit the exam for this course if you sit the exam for one of the following courses:

Examination support material

Approved calculator

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English. You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F?is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.

Resit an examination

Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are?offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.

Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.

More about examinations at UiO

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.

Last updated from FS (Common Student System) Dec. 22, 2024 10:53:09 AM

Facts about this course

Level
Master
Credits
10
Teaching
Spring
Examination
Spring
Teaching language
English

Contact

Department of Geosciences