Christian Rickli

Function

Scientific staff member

Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements

Torrents and Mass Movements

Contact

christian.rickli(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 24 03+41 44 739 24 03

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi LG D 02.2

Research interests

Shallow landslides
Hillslope debris flows
Woody debris transport in torrents
protections measures in torrent channels and on hillslopes
soil bioengineering
protection forest
hazard events

Education and professional development

Since 2006: Scientific collaborator at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, research unit "Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements" group “Mountain Torrents” (research with respect to shallow landslides and hillslope debris flows, effects of vegetation on the stability of steep slopes)
1992 - 2006: scientific collaborator at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, research unit "Water, soil and Rock Movements” (research with respect to estimation of flood discharge in torrents, hazard mapping, timber structures in torrent control and slope stabilisation, shallow landslides, analyses of hazard events, driftwood in torrents, analysis of storm Lothar 1999 in Switzerland)
1986 - 1992: assistant at ETH, professorship Forestry Engineering (topics: road construction, forest exploitation)
1983 - 1986: studies in forest sciences, diploma thesis: “Decontamination of forest sites formerly encumbered with fluorine”
1979 - 83: high school in Interlaken (Canton Berne)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

SedSlope

This project aims at assessing the contribution of sediment erosion from steep slopes adjacent to channel beds to the sediment transport in small catchments.

We aim at providing the link between the belowground water regime, related to the triggering of shallow landslides, and aboveground structural properties of forests as well as between ground truth and remote sensing data in view of up-scaling from the local to the regional and supra-regional scale.

Schützen gut strukturierte und gepflegte Wälder besser?

Waldwirkungen gegen flachgründige Rutschungen praxistauglich zu erfassen ist nach wie vor ungelöst. Das Beispiel "Sachseln" deutet darauf hin, dass gut strukturierte Wälder Hänge besser stabilisieren. Darauf aufbauend werden Interaktive Karten zur Anfälligkeit von Wäldern auf Rutschungen erstellt.

Assessing the potential of soil wetness data for landslide early warning

This SNF-project assesses the value of in-situ soil wetness measurements in advertising imminent occurrence of landslides for potential use in future Landslide Early Warning Systems.

WOODFLOW

Wood in rivers fulfills important ecological functions. However, in case of flood events large wood may become a considerable source of danger. The aim of the research program WoodFlow is to better understand large wood dynamics in order to minimize associated risks.

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Publications WSL

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Prancevic, J.P.; Lamb, M.P.; McArdell, B.W.; Rickli, C.; Kirchner, J.W., 2020: Decreasing landslide erosion on steeper slopes in soil-mantled landscapes. Geophysical Research Letters, 47, 10: e2020GL087505 (9 pp.). doi: 10.1029/2020GL087505

Zimmermann, F.; McArdell, B.W.; Rickli, C.; Scheidl, C., 2020: 2D runout modelling of hillslope debris flows, based on well-documented events in Switzerland. Geosciences, 10, 2: 70 (17 pp.). doi: 10.3390/geosciences10020070

Yildiz, A.; Graf, F.; Rickli, C.; Springman, S.M., 2019: Assessment of plant-induced suction and its effects on the shear strength of rooted soils. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Geotechnical Engineering, 172, 6: 507-519. doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00209

Bebi, P.; Bast, A.; Ginzler, C.; Rickli, C.; Schöngrundner, K.; Graf, F., 2019: Waldentwicklung und flachgründige Rutschungen: eine grossflächige GIS-Analyse. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen, 170, 6: 318-325. doi: 10.3188/szf.2019.0318

Rickli, C.; Graf, F.; Bebi, P.; Bast, A.; Loup, B.; McArdell, B., 2019: Schützt der Wald vor Rutschungen? Hinweise aus der WSL-Rutschungsdatenbank. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen, 170, 6: 310-317. doi: 10.3188/szf.2019.0310

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Further scientific publications

Margreth, S., 2022: Holz zum Schutz vor Lawinen und Schneebewegungen. In: Dorren, L.; Eyer, W.; Margreth, S.; Ratsch, G.; Rickli, C.; Schwarz, M.; Suda, S.; Von der Thannen, M. (eds), 2022: Naturgefahren mit Holz begegnen. Erosion | Rutschung | Wildbach | Lawinen. Zürich, Lignum. 43-51.

Rickli, C., 2022: Dauerhaftigkeit des Baustoff Holz. In: Dorren, L.; Eyer, W.; Margreth, S.; Ratsch, G.; Rickli, C.; Schwarz, M.; Suda, S.; Von der Thannen, M. (eds), 2022: Naturgefahren mit Holz begegnen. Erosion | Rutschung | Wildbach | Lawinen. Zürich, Lignum. 9-13.

Rickli, C.; Galletti, M.; Loup, B.; Badoux, A.; McArdell, B., 2021: WSL-Rutschungsdatenbank: geologische Aspekte bei der Dokumentation von flachgründigen Rutschungen und Hangmuren. Swiss-Bulletin für angewandte Geologie, 26, 1: 75-82.

Steeb, N.; Badoux, A.; Boes, R.M.; Gasser, E.; Rickenmann, D.; Rickli, C.; Ruiz-Villanueva, V.; Schalko, I.; Schmocker, L.; Schwarz, M.; Stoffel, M.; Weitbrecht, V., 2021: WoodFlow project - large wood management in rivers. In: Beyer Portner, N. (eds), 2021: 14th congress INTERPRAEVENT 2021. Natural hazards in a changing world. 14th congress INTERPRAEVENT 2021, Bergen, Norway. 275-283.

Rickli, C.; Bebi, P.; Graf, F.; Moos, C., 2019: Shallow landslides: retrospective analysis of the protective effects of forest and conclusions for prediction. In: Wu, W. (eds), 2019: Recent advances in geotechnical research. Cham, Springer. 175-185. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-89671-7_15

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