A new method for determining the conditions of use of the inverse velocity method

Landslide damage time prediction is the most economical and reasonable means to carry out landslide control. The inverse velocity method (INVM), as the simplest and most practical method, has become the most common technique for landslide prediction nowadays. However, the application of the INVM results in false alarm when applied to step-like landslides. In this paper, we propose the conditions of using the INVM based on the trend speed ratio (TSR) to discriminate stepped landslides, analyse the real-time changes of TSR and discuss the changes of ΔTSR after the uniform deformation phase of the landslide. The results indicate that TSR reaches the extreme value one day earlier than the landslide deformation velocity; thus, TSR can help the INVM to be better applied to engineering sites and reduce the false alarm rate of risk assessment. The application of ΔTSR to eight engineering examples indicate that the new method is more sensitive and can help the traditional method to determine the starting point of landslide acceleration and the future trend of landslides. This method has better applicability and can provide new technical support for better response to landslide warning in engineering.