John Gierke

John  Gierke
  • BS Civil Engineering 1984
  • MS Civil Engineering 1986
  • PhD Engineering 1990

Steep slopes, seasons of persistent and intense rainfall, and unmanaged anthropogenic changes in the landscape all contribute to the potential for landslides. Superimpose limited financial and technical resources on the propensity for natural disasters and the situation becomes a recurring series of catastrophes, where the victims are often unable to completely recover from one before the next hits.

Michigan Tech is building on decades of volcanic research work in El Salvador through a federal program to create partnerships for enhancing engagement in research. The program funds the foreign counterpart in collaborative studies. The research is aimed at building capacity for characterizing and monitoring flood and landslide hazards near San Vicente volcano, a region that was devastated by rains from Hurricane Ida in November 2009. Over 18 inches of rainfall occurred in 36 hours on grounds that had already been subject to nearly six months of wet season. Landslides and lahars killed over 300 residents in villages and towns.

John Gierke and his graduate students are working with faculty and students at the Universidad de El Salvador Facultad Multidisciplanaria Paracentral (UES FMP) in San Vicente to understand and monitor the hydrology of the area's watersheds, with the hopes of developing plans for managing water resources and warning systems for rainfall-induced hazards. The group has installed weather stations and conducted water-level monitoring in shallow wells and a major river. He and his team will return at the end of the 2013 rainy season in El Salvador to resurvey field sites in order to determine whether there are, in fact, perched water tables on the steep slopes that could be a factor in the formation of shallow landslides.

Gierke and his colleagues have also been sharing their expertise using remote sensing data to study landscapes, evaluate land-use changes and prioritize areas with the highest hazards for slope failures. Their counterparts have been eager to learn how to use tools for processing and interpreting remotely sensed data because remote sensing data is often publicly available.

Gierke has also been providing some basic training in hydrological modeling to the faculty, both in person and using online tools. “Basic modeling tools and monitoring instruments are so common in developed countries, like ours. It’s easy to overlook just how out of reach these tools are for financially strapped countries,” he says. “A little bit of technology transfer is enabling our partners to implement monitoring and mitigation plans for warning populations of hazardous conditions.”

Excerpted from Michigan Tech Engineering Research 2013