Historical analyses of debris flow disaster occurrences and of their scientific investigation in Brazil

Abstract

Considering the debris flow as highly-destructive flow of water and sediment mixture in a way where it is a gravity-governed continuous flow, the present paper conducted a Web survey of technical-scientific studies that treated these phenomena which occurred in Brazil during the period 1900-2014. Although the increase of occurrence from the 1990s caused the increase in the number of publication, there are still a small number of publications, especially in scientific journals. A historical analysis about Brazilian studies demonstrates an actual situation in Brazil and confirms various necessary and urgent actions. Among them, the more important actions are: (1) establishment of terminology and concept about debris flow in Brazil; (2) systematization of hydrometeorological monitoring and topographic survey; (3) registration of occurrences and data-base construction; and (4) development of woody debris flow researches.