Abstract
Abstract. This study focuses on the adoption of a modern, widely-used Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) application to investigate volcanic rock slopes in Ribeira de João Gomes valley (Funchal, Madeira island). The TLS data acquisition in May and December 2008 provided information for a characterization of the volcanic environment, detailed structural analysis and detection of potentially unstable rock masses on a slope. Using this information, it was possible to determine specific parameters for numerical rockfall simulations such as average block size, shape or potential sources. By including additional data, such as surface roughness, the results from numerical rockfall simulations allowed us to classify different hazardous areas based on run-out distances, frequency of impacts and related kinetic energy. Afterwards, a monitoring of hazardous areas can be performed in order to establish a rockfall inventory.
Highlights
Engineering geological applications, e.g. rock mass characterization or slope stability analysis in volcanic rock slopes, face many challenges
Several types of laser scanners are in use (Beraldin, 2004; Kersten et al, 2006)
Today, detailed Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) surveys are used in many different geological environments, for different purposes like detection, measurement and monitoring of deformations or displacements (Slob and Hack, 2004; Jones, 2006; Oppikofer et al, 2009; Abellan et al, 2009), backanalysis of rockfalls (Abellan et al, 2006), structural analysis (Slob et al, 2005), rockfall hazard assessment (Rosser et al, 2005) or lithology identification (Pesci et al, 2008)
Summary
Other studies describe the monitoring of unstable slopes and active mass movements in volcanic environments to determine morphologic changes (Jones, 2006). Few researchers have focused on engineering geological issues by analyzing rock slopes on islands of volcanic origin. These islands are subjected to dynamic change in morphology due to frequent mass movements. This paper presents the adaption of TLS applications for engineering geological investigations on an exemplarily volcanic rock slope on the island of Madeira (Fig. 1). This paper will show how TLS data can be used to characterize volcanic rock masses using a high-resolution digital elevation model (HRDEM), including semi-automatic discontinuity analysis and kinematic failure prediction.
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