Heavy Rainfall Events and Mass Movements in the Funchal Area (Madeira, Portugal): Spatial Analysis and Susceptibility Assessment

The article presents new information on the spatial distribution of intense rainfall and a new map of susceptibility to the formation of mass movements in the mountainous streams of the municipality of Funchal, the capital of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, an archipelago of Portugal. The methodology that was adopted is based on the spatial analysis of weighted overlap of variables, with influence in the occurrence of hydro-geomorphological processes that are at the origin of catastrophic events, marked by the mobilization of solid material towards and along the fluvial channels. Intense precipitations are effectively the main triggering factor of mass movements, which is why their statistical characteristics and local contrasts are analyzed, to integrate this layer of information into the new susceptibility assessment model of mass movements produced in this article. This type of spatialized information is of strategic importance to support the planning of urban expansion, which requires a land use management practice in accordance with the existing risk in the Madeira Island. View Full-Text