IoT for Landslides: Applications, Technologies and Challenges

The most common existing human-induced and natural geohazard causing damage to infrastructure and property loss are landslides occurring in hilly regions of India. Landslide involves excessive surface movements, including rock failure, slope failure, debris flow, etc. Landslide prevention is based on the principles of slope stability engineering and developing techniques to reduce its effects on natural resources, river ecosystems, and infrastructure loss. Early warning and monitoring of landslides are the most critical detection/prevention strategies. With advancements in the evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) technique, the recent innovative concept involves the utilization of IoT to strengthen particularly capability and accuracy of early warning and monitoring frameworks to prevent landslides. This chapter presents a brief overview of related research and technological advancements in IoT techniques used for landslide studies. First, it studies the importance and application of IoT for landslide monitoring and early warning system design, then investigates the fundamental layers in IoT along with the application and key technologies involved in landslide prevention. This chapter also highlights challenges with IoT-based landslide early warning and monitoring systems.