Monitoring of landslides in Sochi: how a state-scale task has drifted into a private initiative

Abstract: The “Sirius” University of science and technology in Sochi is implementing a project to create an environmental monitoring system, including in terms of assessing geological risks. The observations are conducted all over the territory and in the surrounding areas. An article posted on the institution’s website states that scientists are able to predict landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis to some extent, but this requires data. To collect them, it is planned to install sensors that will monitor the condition of grounds. The “Geoinfo” journal published this news on its website and in its Telegram channel. Questions and comments followed. They were about current technologies and devices, data collection and interpretation, the lack of a unified state monitoring of hazardous natural phenomena in the Krasnodar Territory. After that, the editorial staff of the journal interviewed some participants of the discussion. The experts told how they make up for the lack of predictive information on landslide processes.

Keywords: hazardous natural processes; hazardous geological processes; landslides; measurement points; cadastral boundaries; human resourcing; unified monitoring system; centralized funding.