Engineering Geology Volume 125, 27 January 2012, Pages 108118

The relationship of rainfall energy with landslides and sediment delivery

Guan-Wei Lin, Hongey Chen

Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, Taiwan Received 27 May 2011. Revised 21 November 2011. Accepted 26 November 2011. Available online 3 December 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2011.11.010, How to Cite or Link Using DOI Permissions & Reprints

Abstract
In tropical mountainous areas, typhoon-induced rainstorms trigger extensive landslides and deliver huge amounts of sediment to river basins. Two mountainous catchments in central Taiwan, with 0.813.5% of their catchment areas disturbed by landsliding induced by a series of typhoons, were selected for the purpose of quantifying the impact of typhoon-induced rainfall kinetic energy on landslides and sediment transport during 19942008. Distribution analysis of the rainfall kinetic energy required to trigger landslides revealed the threshold at which rainfall kinetic energy Ek induces landslides in the mountainous catchments of central Taiwan to be approximately 2000 J m 2. The present study demonstrates that higher rainfall kinetic energy causes more sediment to be delivered to rivers, and finds a positive relationship between Ek and sediment transfer during typhoon periods. We postulate that

real-time monitoring of rainstorms can be used to predict the impact of typhoon events by applying the threshold of rainfall kinetic energy needed to trigger landslides and transport of huge amounts of sediment.

Highlights The monitoring of rainstorms helps to predict the impact of rainfall kinetic energy. The threshold for rainfall energy inducing landslides is approximately 2,000 Jm2. Rainfall energy has a well relation with sediment transfer during typhoon periods.

Keywords

Kinetic energy; Typhoon; Landslide; Sediment; Taiwan

1. Introduction
Landslide debris in mountainous areas is the major source of sediment delivered to downstream areas ( [Eberhart-Phillips et al., 2003], [Lin et al., 2008] and [Chuang et al., 2009]), and dominates the mountain erosion rates ( [Fuller et al., 2003] and [Dadson et al., 2004]). Although the natural landslide triggers include rainstorms, earthquakes, volcanic activities, etc. ( [Varnes, 1978] and [Keefer, 1994]), rainstorms are the most common triggers for landsliding in most tropical mountainous areas ( [Aleotti and Chowdhury, 1999], [Guzzetti et al., 1999] and [Keefer et al., 2006]). In general, rainstorms create rapid surface runoff on hillslopes that denude and transport surface material, while relatively long duration rainwater infiltration into slopes causes geomaterial saturation ( [Sloneker et al., 1976], [Torri et al., 1987] and [Chen and Su, 2001]). Various studies document that the rates of runoff creation and water infiltration are functions of rainfall intensity and duration ( [Thompson and James, 1985], [Poulenard et al., 2001] and [Thompson et al., 2001]). However, some studies also indicate that there is an upper limit of rainfall energy when rainfall intensity is considerably high ( [Jayawardena and Rezaur, 2000], [Van Dijk et al., 2002] and [Nyssen et al., 2005]). Hence, during an extreme rainfall event the rainfall's impact will have an upper limit and not be infinite. Additionally, the kinetic energy of raindrops has been found to be an important force in triggering surface erosion ( [Renard et al., 1997], [Van Dijk et al., 2002] and [Lu et al., 2008]). Rainfall kinetic energy (Ek) includes not only the effects of rainfall intensity but also the impact of the strikes of raindrops on the surface. Furthermore, splashes of surface sediment caused by rainfall energy shorten the pathway for water to approach deeper rock strata, thus increasing the possibility of landslide. Several equations have been formulated to assist in transforming rainfall data into kinetic energy estimates ( [Morin, 1996], [Van Dijk et

al., 2002], [Nyssen et al., 2005] and [Lu et al., 2008]), but real applications to extensive geohazards remain scarce. Therefore, the present study attempts to investigate the relationship between rainfall energy, erosion, and sediment discharge to substantiate this idea. In the present study, we calculate rainfall intensitykinetic energies based on the relationship between rainfall intensity and kinetic energy. In the near future, it will be possible to estimate rainfall energies directly using monitoring technology of Doppler weather radar ( [Bringi et al., 2003], [Chang et al., 2009] and [Feng and Chen Wang, 2011]). The presence of active orogenesis and frequent tropical cyclones results in high erosion rates in central Taiwan (Dadson et al., 2003), making it a most suitable natural experimental field for investigating the relationship between external triggering forces and erosion processes. The present study focused on two mountainous catchments, Chenyoulan and Tachia, which have been subject to extensive landslides during at least the past 15 years. The copious hydrometric data and quantitative landsliding information from these two catchments gathered during 19942008 offer a superior opportunity to investigate the impact of rainfall kinetic energies spawned by a sequence of typhoons on the landsliding on hillslopes and the transfer of sediment to downstream areas.

2. Regional settings
2.1. Tachia catchment
The Tachia River, 120 km in length, is one of the major rivers in central Taiwan, with a catchment area that extends to 1200 km2. The altitudes within this catchment range between 360 m and 3600 m, and the slopes range between 30 and 50. The average annual precipitation is 2300 mm and 70% of this precipitation falls in the summer season from April to August (WRA, 19702008). The monthly average precipitation in the period from September to the following January is less than 100 mm while the monthly average precipitation in the period from May to August is over 300 mm. The mean annual temperature in the catchment is about 20 C. The most common plant species in the catchment are Pinus taiwanensis and Castanopsis type forests. The catchment traverses 3 geological regions, including the Western Foothills, the Hsuehshan Range and the Backbone Range of the Central Range in Taiwan. The Shuichangliu Formation, Pileng Formation, Chiayang Formation, Tachien Sandstone and the Neogene clastic deposition are all outcrops in this study area, midstream of Tachia River (Figure 1). Sandstones, shales, and slates are the dominant lithologies in these formations.

Fig. 1. Location and geological distribution of the Tachia and Chenyoulan catchments.

2.2. Chenyoulan catchment

The Chenyoulan River, 42 km in length, is the major tributary of the Choushui River, the longest river in Taiwan; the catchment area of the Chenyoulan River is 367 km2. Most of the Chenyoulan catchment is higher than 2000 m, and the slopes range between 30 and 45. The average annual precipitation is 1950 mm, and most of the precipitation falls in the summer season from May to August (WRA, 19702008). The mean annual temperature in this

catchment is about 18 C. The plant species in the catchment vary with increase of altitude. FicusMachilus and MachilusCastanopsis are distributed on the both sides of the Chenyoulan River at altitudes below 1500 m. Quercus and TsugaPicea are distributed at the altitudes ranging between 1500 and 3000 m. Where the altitudes exceed 3000 m, the main plant species are Abies and alpine vegetation. The Chenyoulan catchment lies at the junction where the metamorphic Hsuehshan Range runs abreast of the sedimentary Western Foothills. The Chenyoulan River is the major natural boundary separating these two geological regions. East of the Chenyoulan River is classified as Paleogene metamorphic rock. Slates and metamorphic sandstones are the major lithologies in the area. The major formations west of the Chenyoulan River are Nanchuang Formation, Hoshe Formaton and Alluvium. Nanchuang Formation and Hoshe Formation belong to sedimentary formations. Shales and sandstones are the dominant lithologies in these sedimentary formations (Figure 1).

2.3. Geomaterial properties and slope distributions in the catchments

The major lithologies in these two catchments are slate, shale, sandstone and meta-sandstone. In the Chenyoulan catchment, the mean rock strengths of shale, sandstone and metasandstone are 25, 84 and 102 MPa, respectively (Lin et al., 2008). In the Tachia catchment the mean rock strengths of slate, shale, sandstone and meta-sandstone are 20, 66, 50 and 125 MPa, respectively (Chuang et al., 2009). Additionally, the joint densities range from 8 to 12 m 3 in the Chenyoulan catchment (Lin et al., 2008), and range from 8 to 17 m 3 in the Taichia catchment (Chuang et al., 2009). Rock strength and discontinuity characteristics of geomaterial have strong control on rock mass stability ( [Einstein et al., 1983] and [Augustinus, 1995]). However, this study is focused on the impacts of rainfall energy on landsliding and sediment discharge. The effects of the different geomaterial properties could be ignored temporarily because of the similar lithologic compositions in these two catchments. The major soil formations in these two catchments are lithosols and colluvial soils (Sheh and Wang, 1991). Lithosols consist of imperfectly weathered rock fragments. Colluvial soils are made up of a variety of loose deposits at the bottom of the low-grade slopes. In these two catchments, colluvial soils typically contain coarse rock fragments exceeding 25%. The depths of these soil formations do not exceed 120 cm (Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, 19841985). The compositions of soil in these two catchments reveal that major sources of soil are landsliding or debris flows. The probability distributions of the slope in these two catchments reveal that the hillslopes in the Tachia catchment are somewhat steeper than those in the Chenyoulan catchment (Figure 2). The alluvium terrain distributed along the Chenyoulan River would be the major factor causing the smaller peak of the probability distribution at low slopes.

Fig. 2. Probability plot of slope distribution in the Tachia and Chenyoulan catchments.

3. Methods
3.1. Landslide mapping
Landslides are registered and mapped before and after the hazard events by satellite images with a resolution of 20 m. Time spans between pre-event and post-event satellite images are shorter than two months. 20 m resolution SPOT can be used to register accurately only landslides greater than 400 m2. Omission of landslides smaller than 400 m2 may result in a slight underestimation of the area and volume of material disturbed. At the same time, the new generation landslides and reactivated landslides can be surveyed by contrasting the postevent satellite images with the pre-event images. A new generation landslide cannot be present in the pre-event satellite image, which shows that the area had not been affected by landsliding two months before typhoon events. By contrast, a reactivated landslide means that the area had been affected in a prior typhoon event and had been disturbed again in the later

typhoon event (Lin et al., 2008). In the field, the landslide information is checked first hand to ensure the dependability of the landslide maps. In this study, we also quantify the landslide ratio, the new-generation ratio and the reactivated ratio in characterizing the landslides ( [Lin et al., 2008] and [Chuang et al., 2009]). The landslide ratio is the ratio of total landslide area to the total catchment area. The newgeneration ratio is here defined as the ratio of new landslide area to the total landslide area after a given event, and the reactivated ratio as the ratio of reactivated landslide area to the landslide area that existed before an event.

3.2. Estimation of sediment discharge

We calculated sediment discharge by using the measurements of daily water-discharge and suspended sediment discharge which were provided by USDH-48 suspended-sediment samples of the Water Resources Agency of Taiwan at the 1510H049 station for Chenyoulan catchment and at the 1420H035 station for Tachia catchment during 19722008. The monthly weighted average method (MWA) recommended by Dadson et al. (2004) was utilized to estimate the annual sediment discharge. The equation used in the MWA method is written as follows (Cohn, 1995), (1)

where SMWA is the calculated amount of sediment discharge (ton yr 1), mi is the measured number in the ith month, Qsij is the jth measured value of sediment discharge in the ith month (ton day 1). Catchment-wide erosion rates were calculated from annual suspended sediment discharge by dividing by the density of quartz and by catchment area. The unit for erosion rates is mm yr 1. The rating-curve method, which gives the relationship between water discharge (Q) and suspended sediment concentration (Cs) by fitting a function of the form Cs = kQb, was used to estimate sediment discharge during the typhoon-induced rainstorms (Cohn, 1995). Q is the measured flow discharge (m3 s 1), k and b are coefficients. In this study, the hourly flow discharge was applied in estimating the sediment discharges for the durations of typhoons.

3.3. Rainfall kinetic energy

Rainfall kinetic energy, Ek, is the product of mass and fall velocity squared. In this study, calculations of rainfall kinetic energy rely on REk relationships established in other parts of the world by Van Dijk et al. (2002). The REk relationship has the general form: (2) where R is rainfall intensity (mm h 1). The empirical constant, 28.3, denotes maximum kinetic energy content, and the coefficient, 0.52, determines the minimum kinetic energy content. This relationship between rainfall intensity and kinetic energy is established by experiments of raindrop impacts in several areas including Japan, Hong Kong, and China. These areas are similar in climatic type to Taiwan based on the Kppen climate classification

( [Van Dijk et al., 2002] and [Peel et al., 2007]). This indicates that the relationship applied in this study is valid for Taiwan. In this study, unit rainfall kinetic energy (unit Ek, J m 2) was calculated by accumulating hourly rainfall kinetic energies transferred from the REk relationship as a function of rainfall intensities. Average rainfall kinetic energies (Ave. Ek, J day 1) during typhoons were calculated from the unit Ek by multiplying by catchment area and by dividing by event days. Over 400 rain gauges have been installed around Taiwan (Figure 3), which provided detailed rainfall information ( [CWB, 19702008] and [Water Resources Agency of Taiwan, 1970 2008]). Detailed hourly-rainfall records were used to calculate rainfall kinetic energies. Although there are > 400 rainfall gauge stations around Taiwan, rainfall kinetic energies at most locations still have to be interpolated by observations. The Kriging method is the most often used technique to interpolate the rainfall data at an unobserved location from observations. Therefore, the Kriging method (Cressie, 1993) was applied to obtain the spatial distribution of rainfall kinetic energy around Taiwan based on the rain gauge records.

Fig. 3. Distribution of over 400 rainfall gauge stations around Taiwan, and the typhoon routes of 1996 Herb, 2001 Toraji and 2004 Mindulle.

Although in general forest interceptions are considered in lowering raindrop energies, some studies have documented that where the vegetation canopies rise to 0.5 m or more above the ground, the drip energy of raindrops is sufficient to detach surface particles ( [Zhou et al., 2002] and [Morgan and Morgan, 2005]). Zhou et al. (2002) found that the raindrops coalesce on the leaves to form large drips. When the height of forest canopy exceeds 5 m, the impact of forest interception on the rainfall kinetic energy would be small. Based on the investigations of forest researchers in Taiwan, the average tree heights in these two catchments generally exceed 5 m (Huang, 2006). Besides, Franken et al. (1982) pointed out that the amount of rainfall intercepted depended on the size of the storm. When the rainstorms had total precipitation exceeding 100 mm, more than 80% of rainfall would reach the ground. In the study, the collected typhoon events all had total rainfall far exceeding 100 mm, and it can be assumed that almost all of the rainfall

dripped through canopy. The impact of forest canopy was estimated to understand the transformation of rainfall kinetic energy through canopy (Brandt, 1988), and the results were analyzed to ascertain that the average rainfall kinetic energy through forest canopy was 1.03 times that of natural rainfall when rainfall depth exceeded 2.83 mm. Consequently, the rainfall kinetic energy transmitted through forest canopy during a rainstorm will be almost equal to the energy produced by natural rainfall drops.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Landsliding in the central Taiwan
In this study, the interpreted landslide types include surface denudation, rock fall, soil slips, flow slides and slope failures, and the mapped features of landslide are composed of source area and deposit zone. Steep topography in the study areas causes thin layers of soil strata and colluvium with thickness of < 1.2 m, and the field investigation of landslides shows that the depths of failure surfaces in most landslides exceeded 3 m. The predominate landslide type in the areas is a complex type composed of soil strata and rock strata. In the Chenyoulan catchment, the total areas disturbed by landsliding increased from 4.6 km2 to 31.6 km2 in the period 19962004 (Table 1). After the 2007 typhoon Sepat, the total landslide area in the catchment decreased to 12.8 km2. The total landslide area increased by 2.8 times after the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, and after typhoons Toraji and Mindulle the total landslide areas increased by 1.9 times and then a further 1.3 times. Similarly, in the Tachia catchment, the total landslide areas increased from 5.9 km2 to 37.9 km2 in the period 1996 2004 (Table 1). Table 1. Landslides triggered by a series of typhoons and earthquake in the Tachia and Chenyoulan catchments. Landslide Storms/earthquake Year area (106 m2) Chenyoulan catchment Herb 1996 Chi-Chi earthquake 1999 Toraji 2001 Mindulle 2004 Sepat 2007 Tachia catchment Herb Chi-Chi earthquake Toraji Mindulle Full-size table 1996 1999 2001 2004 4.59 12.85 24.43 31.58 12.78 5.86 12.90 29.10 37.89 Landslide ratio (%) 1.26 3.53 6.71 8.67 3.74 1.43 3.53 7.10 13.50 Reactivated ratio (%) 93 83 64 41 16 47 51 59 66 39 70 66 69 63 64 88 47 49 Newgeneration ratio (%)

In the Tachia catchment, the total landslide area after the Chi-Chi earthquake was 4 times greater than that triggered by typhoon Herb. Although, the landslide number triggered by typhoons Toroji and Mindulle increased moderately, the landslide area still continued to extend until typhoon Mindulle, which was 1.5 times greater than the landslide area after ChiChi earthquake. The landsliding magnitudes in the Tachia catchment are greater than those in the Chenyoulan catchment. These results indicate that the area affected by landsliding had continued to extend in the Tachia and Chenyoulan catchments, at least until 2004. In the Chenyoulan catchment, the new-generation ratio of landsliding after typhoon Herb was 39%, while the ratio rose to 70% after the Chi-Chi earthquake. After typhoons Toraji and Mindulle, the new-generation ratios were 66% and 69%, respectively. These values show that the ratio for new landslides after the Chi-Chi earthquake stayed at about 70%, which may be the upper limit of new-generation ratio in the Chenyoulan catchment. In the Chenyoulan catchment, the ratios for reactivated landslides continued to decrease from 93% after typhoon Herb to 41% after typhoon Mindulle. In the Tachia catchment, the new-generation ratio after Chi-Chi earthquake was 88%, which was higher than the ratio after typhoon Herb, 64%. However, the new-generation ratios triggered by Toraji and Mindulle typhoons remained at around 50%. Additionally, in the Tachia catchment, the reactivated ratios kept increasing in the period of 19962004, from 47% to 66%. From 1996 to 2007, the reactivated ratios of landsliding in Chenyoulan catchment decreased progressively, but in the Tachia catchment, by contrast, they increased.

4.2. Erosion rates in central Taiwan

The Chenyoulan catchment exhibited three increasing stages of erosion rates; that is, the average erosion rates are 1.2 mm yr 1 from 1972 to 1979, 5.6 mm yr 1 from 1980 to 1999, and 17.8 mm yr 1 from 2000 to 2008 (Figure 4). However, during 19801999, the annual amounts of rainfall, 1913 mm, in the Chenyoulan catchment were less than the average value of annual rainfall, 2089 mm, except in 1996. The smaller amounts of annual rainfall during 19801999 indicate that the increase of average erosion rate after 1980 did not result from the change in annual rainfall. It implies that the changes of the intensity of a single rainstorm, rainstorm frequency, human activities, or earthquakes in the catchment may have been the factor to induce the change of erosion rates

Fig. 4. Annual sediment discharge, erosion rates, annual rainfall and total annual rainfall kinetic energy in the Chenyoulan catchment.

The completion of the New Central Cross-Island Highway would be the main factor causing the increase of the mean erosion rate after 1980 while the later increase after 2000 would be due to the occurrence of the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. The highest erosion rate which appeared in 2004 was due to the intense rainstorm induced by typhoon Mindulle. Afterwards, the erosion rates decreased gradually back to the mean value before the 1999 earthquake. In the Tachia catchment, several severe typhoons in one year are usually accompanied by higher annual sediment discharges (Figure 5). For instance, during 19811983, seven severe typhoons, which exceeded the average number of severe typhoons per year of 1.5 yr 1, induced exceptionally high sediment discharges and erosion rates. This indicates that the

erosion rates would be dominated by intense rainstorms induced by typhoons. The 1999 earthquake also triggered a large amount of landsliding in this catchment. Additionally, the differences in the impacts of severe typhoons on sediment discharges in the Chenyoulan and Tachia catchments should be referred to the different distributions of typhoon-induced rainstorms.

Fig. 5. Annual sediment discharge, erosion rates, annual rainfall and total annual rainfall kinetic energy in the Tachia catchment.

4.3. Relationships between rainfall kinetic energy and landsliding

In Taiwan, the annual rainfall kinetic energy tends to be dominated by the major typhoons in the given year. In 1996, the areas with high total annual rainfall kinetic energy were

distributed along the both sides of the route of typhoon Herb (Figure 6A); similarly, in 2004, the areas with high total annual rainfall kinetic energy were distributed along the route of Mindulle typhoon and windward of the central mountain region in Taiwan (Figure 6B). Therefore, the probability distributions of typhoon-induced rainfall kinetic energy in landslides for the two catchments were quite different.

Fig. 6. The typhoon routes and the distribution of total annual rainfall kinetic energy. The unit of contour lines is 106 J.

In order to understand the relationships between landslides and rainfall kinetic energies, the probabilities of unit rainfall kinetic energies in landslides for a given typhoon were calculated to identify the probability of individual unit rainfall kinetic energy in all unit rainfall kinetic energies causing landsliding. The probability distribution could display the minimum value of rainfall kinetic energy to trigger landslides. For instance, typhoon Herb induced the widest range of rainfall kinetic energy in the Chenyoulan catchment (Figure 7A) but induced only a narrow range of rainfall kinetic energy in the Tachia catchment (Figure 7B). For typhoons Toraji and Mindulle, these differences of kinetic energy distribution between the two catchments are also obvious. This shows again that the topographies and typhoon routes tend to be the main factors causing spatial variations in rainfall kinetic energy. Although the unit rainfall kinetic energy in landslides after each typhoon is different for each catchment, the minimum unit Ek values in landslides in these two catchments are both about 2000 J m 2. The minimum unit Ek can be seen as the threshold of rainfall kinetic energy for triggering landslides. The similar values of the thresholds of unit Ek for triggering landslides in both catchments are due to the similar geomaterial properties within these two catchments. Therefore, the larger magnitude of landslide area in the Tachia catchment could be attributed to its steeper slope morphology.

Fig. 7. Probability distribution of the unit rainfall kinetic energy in landslides. Unit rainfall kinetic energy reported is average value found within each landslide by analyzing in ArcGIS software. The minimum value of the unit rainfall kinetic energy in landslides for each typhoon is marked by the arrow with dashed line.

4.4. Relationships between rainfall kinetic energy and sediment transport

Rainfall is the driving force of most water erosion processes and creation of surface runoff ( [Moore, 1979] and [Thompson et al., 2001]). By comparing the average rainfall kinetic energies with average sediment discharges during typhoons in the two catchments after 2000, we find that sediment discharge during typhoon periods has a positive linear relationship with the average rainfall kinetic energy produced by rainstorms (R2 = 0.805). Moreover, there is a better non-linear relationship (R2 = 0.807) between average rainfallEk and sediment discharge (Table 2 and Figure 8A). Rainfall not only creates surface runoff to transport sediment, but rainfall energy also impacts the surface to produce more detached debris particles.

Table 2. Rainfall kinetic energies and sediment discharge during typhoons. Total Unit Ave. sedimen rainfall rainfall Accumulat t kinetic kinetic Typhoo ed rainfall dischar Year/mon Recorde energy energy n during ge th d days during during events event during event event (mm) event (103 J/m (1012 J/da (106 ton 2 ) y) ) Chenyoulan catchment Tim 1994/7 3 149 1.36 0.50 0.09 Caitlin 1994/8 9 651 0.85 0.31 7.45 Herb 1996/7 3 714 7.88 2.89 28.74 Otto 1998/8 5 210 2.06 0.75 2.34 Toraji 2001/7 4 535 5.32 1.95 11.34 Mindull 2004/6 8 811 3.56 1.31 16.63 e Aere 2004/8 7 492 3.28 1.20 38.02 Haitang 2005/7 5 672 2.68 0.98 2.93 Bilis 2006/7 4 405 2.06 0.76 0.40 Sepat 2007/8 4 465 2.21 0.81 0.22 Sinlaku 2008/9 6 769 3.13 1.15 0.89 Jangmi 2008/9 4 467 2.84 1.04 0.17 Tachia catchment Herb 1996/7 Toraji 2001/7 a 3 3 667 370 2.12 4.39 0.87 0.83 0.13 0.34 Averagely daily sediment discharge during eventa (106 ton/da y) 0.03 0.83 9.58 0.47 2.84 2.08 5.43 0.59 0.10 0.05 0.15 0.04 0.04 0.11

Average daily sediment discharges during events were calculated from total sediment discharge during event by dividing by recorded days. Full-size table

Fig. 8. (A) The relationship between average rainfall kinetic energies and sediment discharges during typhoons. (B) The relationship between unit rainfall kinetic energy and proportions of sediment discharge during typhoons to annual sediment discharges.

The exceptional sediment discharges during typhoon Caitlin and Aere may be due to the increasing availability of sediment within channels or on hillslopes following earlier typhoons in the same year. This indicates that, although more rainfall could drive more sediment, a portion of the landslide debris would still stop on the hillslope or in the upstream channels. Subsequent rainstorms would tend to transport such residue debris.

In order to understand the impacts of rainstorms on annual sediment discharge, the proportion of sediment discharge during typhoons to annual sediment discharge was compared with the unit rainfall kinetic energies during typhoons after 2000. It shows that the proportion of annual sediment discharge during typhoons increases with the unit rainfall kinetic energy of typhoon-induced rainstorms, with R2 = 0.961 for linear relation and R2 = 0.985 for a multinomial relation (Figure 8B). The unit rainfall kinetic energy of 2000 J m 2 appears to be the threshold for transferring huge amounts of sediment during a rainstorm. This threshold for transporting sediment also agrees with the threshold of unit Ek for triggering landslides. It also correlates well with the fact that landsliding is the major factor in producing huge amounts of sedimentation during typhoons. In the Chenyoulan catchment, the 1996 typhoon Herb and 2001 typhoon Toraji triggered unit rainfall kinetic energies exceeding 5000 J m 2 and > 50% of the 1996 and 2001 annual sediment discharge were yielded during these two typhoons. Although the results in Fig. 8 imply that rainfall kinetic energy significantly affects the production of sediment discharge, the effect of human activities and earthquakes still must be recognized as important mechanisms that contribute to the huge amount of loose debris on the ground. Therefore, a positive relationship between rainfall kinetic energy and sediment discharge does not negate the impact of highways and the 1999 earthquake.

4.5. Time series in the floods beginning and the landslides occurring
Hourly rainfall, estimated hourly rainfall kinetic energies, hourly flow discharge, and estimated hourly sediment discharge in the Chenyoulan catchment during the 1996 typhoon Herb, 2004 typhoon Mindulle, and 2008 typhoon Sinlaku were collected to process the time series analyses. We stipulated that a rainstorm starts when the hourly rainfall is higher than 10 mm h 1 and a flood begins when the flow discharge is higher than 100 m3 s 1. Based on the landslide threshold determined as unit Ek in the previous section, in the Chenyoulan catchment the minimum thresholds for triggering landsliding were 1787 J m 2 for the typhoon Herb and 2252 J m 2 for typhoon Mindulle. Because of gaps in the hydrometric data for typhoon Toraji, the discussion on typhoon Toraji is omitted. During 1996 typhoon Herb, the rain started at 7:00 on 31 July and the flood began at 12:00 (Figure 9A). The landslides occurred at 9:00 when the accumulated unit Ek exceeded 1787 J m 2. During 2004 typhoon Mindulle, the rain started at 9:00 on 2 July and the flood began at 11:00 (Figure 9B). The landslides occurred at 14:00 when the accumulated unit Ek exceeded 2252 J m 2. These results show that in the Chenyoulan catchment, the floods tend to begin 25 h after the rainstorms start.

Fig. 9. Hourly flow discharge, sediment discharge, hourly rainfall, and unit rainfall kinetic energy for typhoons in the Chenyoulan catchment: (A) 1996 typhoon Herb, and (B) 2004 typhoon Mindulle.

Based on the above-mentioned experiences of typhoons Herb and Mindulle, given that 2008 typhoon Sinlaku rain started at 14:00 on 13 September, the flood should have commenced during the period 16:00 to 19:00 (Figure 10). The records of flow discharge in the Chenyoulan River show that the flood indeed exceeded 100 m3 s 1 at 16:00 on 13 September 2008, which shows that assuming a time lag of 25 h between the rain start and flood commencement for predicting the inception of flood is credible. Consequently, hydrometric records of previous typhoon events can serve as important references for assessing the potential inception of geohazards.

Fig. 10. Hourly flow discharge, sediment discharge, hourly rainfall, and unit rainfall kinetic energy for 2008 typhoon Sinlaku in the Chenyoulan catchment.

5. Conclusions
Although rainfall intensity and duration have both been identified as important factors in the triggering of surface denudation and slope failure, the upper limit of the impact of raindrops on surface erosion can be determined on the basis of rainfall kinetic energy but not on the basis of rainfall intensity. Unit and total rainfall kinetic energy could represent the immediate and accumulative impact forces, respectively, which are similar to rainfall intensity and duration. This study was concentrated primarily on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the effects of rainfall kinetic energy on landsliding and the sediment discharge during typhoon periods. The results in the study can conclude that one rainstorm could cause quite different kinetic energy distributions in different areas. Higher rainfall kinetic energies during typhoons could trigger more sediment discharge. Major typhoons always dominate the annual sediment discharge and transfer. More than 50% of annual sediment discharge was yielded during a typhoon with the unit rainfall kinetic energy exceeding 5000 J m 2.

Since Tachia and Chenyoulan catchments in central Taiwan have similar geomaterial properties, the present study quantified the threshold of unit rainfall kinetic energy for triggering landsliding and huge sediment discharge in central Taiwan as 2000 J m 2. The threshold of rainfall kinetic energy for triggering landsliding presented here could have important implications for quantification and prevention of potential landslide hazards. Realtime monitoring of rainfall information during typhoon periods will make possible the provision of useful reference data for quantifying the impact of rainfall energy on landsliding and sediment discharges. In central Taiwan, floods start about 25 h after the rains start. The time lag before the flood begins could be an opportunity to predict the magnitude of the hazards. In the near future, it will be possible to estimate rainfall kinetic energy directly from Doppler weather radar observation data, but this would not take the relationship between rainfall intensity and kinetic energy into account. The positive relationship between rainfall kinetic energy, landslides and sediment discharge found in this study show that the further studies of the physical mechanism of rainfall energy within slope erosion could possibly supply an alternative approach for geohazard prediction.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the National Science Council, ROC for supporting this research project financially, and the Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs for supplying the hydrometric data.
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