Landslide Change Characterization Experiment
NASA’s Landslide Change Characterization Experiment (LACCE) will explore slope stability in California and Alaska. Combining data from airborne radar, ground-based sensors, and laboratory experiments, the team will investigate how extreme precipitation swings and melting glaciers may be destabilizing slopes. A better understanding of how water moves through and weakens rock, triggering landslides, could help researchers identify slopes at risk of collapse. 
Mission Type
Launch
Objective

Thousands of landslides are actively sliding down hillslopes at any given moment on Earth. Some are fast moving, causing thousands of casualties and billions of dollars in damage each year. Others inch downhill almost imperceptibly, for months to years, even centuries. On occasion, slow-moving landslides have been known to accelerate catastrophically, especially after periods of heavy rainfall. Researchers will track these slow hazards and build computer models to simulate their mechanics.
The LACCE team will focus on areas at risk of landslides in California and Alaska. Research objectives include:
Starting in 2027, LACCE researchers will deploy high-resolution L- and P-band synthetic aperture radar aboard NASA’s Gulfstream IV aircraft, in addition to ground-based piezometers, GPS, rainfall gauges, and soil-moisture sensors.
The study area will encompass hundreds of square miles of the California coast, from Los Angeles to Eureka, near the border with Oregon. The project also takes aim at emerging landslide hazards in Alaska, near Anchorage, where retreating glaciers are accelerating slope movements with the potential to create tsunamis. 
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