Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Departament d'Enginyeria Civil i Ambiental
Rockgis takes a lumped mass approach, representing blocks as single points in space with position, linear, and angular velocities. The terrain is represented by a raster file, and height at each point is computed using bilinear interpolation.
The simulation starts with kinematic conditions and a release point for each block. It follows a parabolic flight trajectory until contact with terrain, applying a rebound model upon impact. If stopping criteria are met, the block halts; otherwise, it checks for fragmentation. If fragmentation occurs, the code generates fragments based on impacting conditions, treating them as new blocks. Fragment trajectories follow power laws, with outgoing trajectories randomly assigned within a defined cone angle. For a detailed technical description, refer to scientific publications available on the project website.
The main input is a configuration file specifying parameters and paths to input files. The output includes passage counts through raster cells, final positions of stopped blocks, 3D trajectories, and impacts on protective structures.
This code is provided as-is for research purposes. The university does not guarantee its accuracy or suitability for any specific application. Users assume all responsibility for its use and any consequences that may arise.
The code is designed to compile on Linux for both Linux and Windows platforms. Two makefiles are provided accordingly.
Precompiled versions of the code are available for convenience.
A video tutorial demonstrating how to use the code is available on project website. A basic preconfigured study-case is provided here in folder "CaseStudy".
Project Website: Georisk
Scientific publications:
- Matas G. (2020) Modelling fragmentation in rockfalls. Tesis doctoral del programa de Ingeniería del Terreno. Dpto. de Ingeniería de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. UPC-BarcelonaTech). Acces Thesis
- Matas G., Lantada N., Corominas J., Gili J.A., Ruiz-Carulla R., Prades A. (2020) Simulation of full-scale rockfall tests with a fragmentation model. Geosciences, 10 (5), 168, Special Issue "Rock Fall Hazard and Risk Assessment Acces Article
- Matas G., Lantada N., Corominas J. , Gili J.A., Ruiz-Carulla R., Prades A. (2017). RockGIS: A GIS-based model for the analysis of fragmentation in rockfalls. Landslides 14(5), 1565-1578. DOI.doi:10.1007/s10346-017-0818-7 Acces Article
This work has been developed in the framework of the following research projects:
- Georisk, “Advances in rockfall quantitative risk analysis (QRA) incorporating developments in geomatics (GeoRisk)”, PID2019-103974RB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain.
- RockModels, "Characterization and modeling of rockfalls". (Ref.BIA2016-75668-P, AEI/FEDER,UE) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness,and co-funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF or FEDER in Spanish).
- RockRisk (Ref. BIA2013-42582-P) of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the grant to the first author (BES-2014-069795).