In many areas, rainfall is the primary trigger of landslides. Determining the rainfall conditions responsible for landslide occurrence is important, and may contribute to saving lives and properties. In a long-term national project for the definition of rainfall thresholds for possible landslide occurrence in Italy, we compiled a catalogue of 186 rainfall events that resulted in 251 shallow landslides in Calabria, southern Italy, from January 1996 to September 2011. Landslides were located geographically using Google Earth®, and were given a mapping and a temporal accuracy. We used the landslide information, and sub-hourly rainfall measurements obtained from two complementary networks of rain gauges, to determine cumulated event vs. rainfall duration (ED) thresholds for Calabria. For this purpose, we adopted an existing method used to prepare rainfall thresholds and to estimate their associated uncertainties in central Italy. The regional thresholds for Calabria were found to be nearly identical to previous ED thresholds for Calabria obtained using a reduced set of landslide information, and slightly higher than the ED thresholds obtained for central Italy. We segmented the regional catalogue of rainfall events with landslides in Calabria into lithology, soil regions, rainfall zones, and seasonal periods. The number of events in each subdivision was insufficient to determine reliable thresholds, but allowed for preliminary conclusions about the role of the environmental factors in the rainfall conditions responsible for shallow landslides in Calabria. We further segmented the regional catalogue based on administrative subdivisions used for hydro-meteorological monitoring and operational flood forecasting, and we determined separate ED thresholds for the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian coasts of Calabria. We expect the ED rainfall thresholds for Calabria to be used in regional and national landslide warning systems. The thresholds can also be used for landslide hazard and risk assessments, and for erosion and landscape evolution studies, in the study area and in similar physiographic regions in the Mediterranean area.

Cellular Automata (CA) represent a formal frame for dynamical systems, which evolve on the base of local interactions. Some types of landslide, such as debris flows, match well this requirement. The latest hexagonal release (S_3–hex) of the deterministic model SCIDDICA, specifically developed for simulating debris flows, is described. For CA simulation purposes, landslides can be viewed as a dynamical system, subdivided into elementary parts, whose state evolves exclusively as a consequence of local interactions within a spatial and temporal discretum. Space is the world of the CA, here constituted by hexagonal cells. The attributes of each cell ("substates") describe physical characteristics. For computational reasons, the natural phenomenon is "decomposed" into a number of elementary processes, whose proper composition makes up the "transition function" of the CA. By simultaneously applying this function to all the cells, the evolution of the phenomenon can be simulated in terms of modifications of the substates. SCIDDICA S_3–hex exhibits a great flexibility in modelling debris flows. With respect to the previous releases of the model, the mechanism of progressive erosion of the soil cover has been added to the transition function. Considered substates are: altitude; thickness and energy of landslide debris; depth of erodable soil cover; debris outflows. Considered elementary processes are: mobilisation triggering and effect (T₁), debris outflows (I₁), update of landslide debris thickness and energy (I₂), and energy loss (T₂). Simulations of real debris flows, occurred in Campania (Southern Italy) in May 1998 (Sarno) and December 1999 (San Martino V.C. and Cervinara), have been performed for model calibration purposes; some examples of analysis are briefly described. Possible applications of the method are: risk mapping, also based on a statistical approach; evaluating the effects of mitigation actions (e.g. stream deviations, topographic alterations, channelling, embankments, bridges, etc.) on flow development.

On 1 October 2009, a high intensity storm hit the Ionian coast of Sicily, SW of Messina, Italy. The Santo Stefano di Briga rain gauge, located 2 km W of the Ionian coast, recorded 225 mm of rain in seven hours. The intense rainfall event triggered abundant slope failures, and resulted in widespread erosion and deposition of debris along ephemeral drainage channels, extensive inundation, and local modifications of the coastline. Landslides occurred in a territory prone to slope failures, due to the local geological and geomorphological settings. Many landslides were related to the presence of roads lacking adequate drainage. Abandoned terraced slopes lacking proper drainage, and unmaintained dry walls were also related to slope failures. Damage was particularly severe in small villages and at several sites along the transportation network. The shallow landslides and the inundation resulted in 37 fatalities, including 31 deaths and six missing persons, and innumerable injured people. After the event, an accurate landslide inventory map was prepared for the Briga and the Giampilieri catchments. The map shows: (i) the distribution of the event landslides triggered by the 1 October 2009 rainfall event; (ii) the distribution of the pre-existing slope failures; and (iii) other geomorphological features related to fluvial processes and slope movements. The landslide inventory map was prepared at 1:10,000 scale through a combination of field surveys and photo-interpretation of pre-event and post-event, stereoscopic and pseudo-stereoscopic, aerial photography. Different types of aerial photographs were analysed visually to prepare the landslide inventory map. The event landslides were mapped through the interpretation of pseudo-stereoscopic colour photographs taken shortly after the event at 1:3500 scale, combined with digital stereoscopic photographs at approximately 1:4500 scale, taken in November 2009. The pre-event landslides and the associated geomorphological features were mapped using 1:33,000 scale aerial photographs flown in 1954, 1955, and 2005. The event and pre-existing landslides were checked in the field in the period October–November 2009.