Rockfall Hazards and Rock Mechanics: Advances in Forecasting, Modelling, Monitoring, and Mitigation
A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Hazards".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 53
Special Issue Editors
Interests: natural hazards; rockfall; risk assessment; mitigation measures; reliability-based design; fragmentation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: rock mechanics; rock mass strength; time-dependent behavior; fracture propagation; natural hazards
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This special issue focuses on rockfalls as complex and hazardous processes affecting a wide range of environments, including mountainous terrains, coastal cliffs, and open-pit mines. These events pose serious threats to infrastructure, structures, and human safety. The issue brings together interdisciplinary contributions from geology and geotechnical engineering to explore innovative strategies for understanding, predicting, and mitigating rockfall risks. Particular attention is given to novel approaches for forecasting event initiation based on the evolving mechanical and structural conditions of rock masses, such as discontinuity networks, stress redistribution, and progressive degradation. The influence of climate change on the frequency and magnitude of rockfall events is also examined, with emphasis on thermal cycles, permafrost degradation, and extreme weather patterns.
Contributions highlight advanced monitoring technologies, including remote sensing, sensor networks, and machine learning, new methodologies for hazard and risk quantification, as well as laboratory findings for characterizing rock mass response. The design and optimization of mitigation measures are addressed through probabilistic modeling, performance-based approaches, and integrated risk management. By bridging geological processes and engineering solutions, the issue aims to foster collaboration between geologists and geotechnical experts in developing resilient and adaptive strategies for rockfall risk reduction.
This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:
- Mechanisms and triggering factors of rockfalls, including the role of discontinuity networks, stress redistribution, and progressive degradation of rock masses.
- Innovative monitoring and forecasting techniques, such as remote sensing, sensor networks, and machine learning applications.
- Hazard and risk assessment methodologies, including probabilistic approaches and integrated risk management frameworks.
- Experimental and numerical investigations, providing insights into rock mass behavior and fragmentation processes.
- Design and performance of mitigation measures, encompassing embankments, barriers, drapery systems, and performance-based design strategies.
We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.
Dr. Maddalena Marchelli
Dr. Giulia Torsello
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
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 hazards
- triggering factors
- discontinuity networks
- monitoring and remote sensing
- hazard and risk assessment
- mitigation measures design
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