Rockfall Phenomena: Geomorphological Processes, Hazards, and Mitigation
A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Hazards".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: geological–geomorphological mapping; Quaternary geology; tectonic geomorphology; landslide hazard and risk assessment; geotourism; engineering geology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: geological–geomorphological mapping; tectonic geomorphology; landslide susceptibility assessment; geographic information systems; landslides hazard and risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Landslides are natural phenomena occurring in all geographic regions due to a combination of geological and geomorphological factors in response to triggering mechanisms, mostly represented by heavy rainfall events, seismicity, or human action. In this context, rockfalls are acknowledged as a type of fast-moving landslide that occur when rock or earth falls, bounces, or rolls from a cliff or down a very steep slope. They can directly impact a territory, endangering human settlements and infrastructure with damage, fatalities, and socio-economic losses. Starting from this framework, geomorphological field activities, satellite remote sensing, and numerical modelling offer valuable support for rockfall mapping and monitoring at both the local and regional scales.
The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers that give insights into innovative methods and tecniques to accurately investigate rockfall phenomena, providing useful products for risk management actors. All papers dealing with different climatic and geographical scales will be considered in order to gain regional and scalar diversity in the contributions. This Special Issue will provide scientific tools for the preparation and the optimal use of thematic products (i.e., rockfall prediction models and rockfall susceptibility maps) and design criteria for rockfall mitigation activities.
This Special Issue welcomes manuscripts that include, but are not limited to, the following themes: (i) the analysis of rockfall conditioning and triggering factors; (ii) geomorphological analysis and GIS mapping; (iii) rockfall hazard mapping; (iv) rockfall susceptibility mapping; (v) remote sensing techniques for the definition of vulnerability and the characterization of elements at risk; (vi) the modelling and monitoring of rockfall dynamics; (vii) the implementation of sustainable territorial planning; (viii) the design of smart adaptation measures to reduce risks, such as early warning systems.
We look forward to receiving your original research articles and/or review papers.
Prof. Dr. Enrico Miccadei
Dr. Giorgio Paglia
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- rockfall dynamics and mechanisms
- geomorphological mapping
- remote sensing and GIS analysis
- rockfall susceptibility analysis
- rockfall modelling and monitoring
- hazard and risk assessment
- remedial or preventive measures
- sustainable territorial planning
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