Creation of an open-source platform for eco-engineering data acquisition and processing in soil slope hazard monitoring

Soil erosion and shallow landslides are likely to increase in the future as a consequence of climate change, especially the changes in rainfall patterns, temperature and human encroachment. During the process of soil erosion, carbon is lost and the productivity of land is reduced. Soil erosion can weaken the soil structure and make it less able to hold itself together. Additionally, when the soil becomes saturated by water, it becomes heavier and increases the likelihood of shifting, resulting in a landslide. Vegetation can provide coverage and reinforcement to the soil and make it more resilient to instability. Knowledge and understanding of the phenomena governing the prevention and mitigation of erosion and landslides exists both in academia and in communities who are facing these two natural hazards. The aim of this project is to explore the existing knowledge and understanding and use it in a co-creation process to develop an in-country open source, open interface, platform for geo- environmental big data acquisition in Malaysia. It will use critical data on soil, vegetation, and weather patterns to enable assessment of hydro-meteorological hazards (HMH) and optimal location of nature-based solutions (NBS). We will engage with local communities, regional/national government agencies, and multi-disciplinary academics to explore the use of extremely low cost remote sensing, open source Earth observation data (e.g., InSAR) and readily available telemetric technology. We will train the stakeholders before co-deploying this technology and helping various stakeholders to use the relevant data analytics. The continuous collection and processing of geo-environmental big data will provide a real-time monitoring of the local conditions, enable early warnings, and guide the decisions of various stakeholders regarding the use of NBS against erosion and landslides. We will look for upscaling prospects of the technology and dissemination to achieve engineering, environmental and public health benefits in Malaysia and abroad.